A Good Liar
by Raum
Summary: COMPLETE "The first time the Grim Reaper visited Edward, it was in the form of the Spanish influenza. The second time, Death had the lovely face of Bella Swan." The Canon Tour - New Moon round's 3rd overall placement!
1. A Good Liar

**Raum**

_**A Good Liar**_

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><p><em><strong>The Canon Tour - New Moon round's 3rd overall placement! Thank you to everyone who participated and to Solareclipses!<br>**_

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><p>Forks, Washington<p>

February 2006

The first time the Grim Reaper visited Edward, it was in the form of the Spanish influenza. The second time, Death had the lovely face of Bella Swan.

Through time, sorrow, and a long reflection, Bella came to a decision that would permanently alter Edward's existence. To understand how she, a mere human, could cause the death of an immortal creature, we must take a step back and allow Bella's story to be told.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Bella put down the pen and stifled a yawn. She'd been studying for the whole afternoon. The teacher had talked so much and so fast that she'd struggled to keep the pace while taking notes. After making them read Shakespeare's _Antonius and Cleopatra_, Mr. Berty had discussed the English translation of a Latin poem about Cleopatra's death. According to him, it was a masterpiece by Horace, and one of the most famous poems of Ancient literature.

For Rome, Cleopatra had been an opponent to be feared. If she'd succeeded in her mission to establish an Oriental Empire, the destiny of the entire Western world might have been altered. Octavian, who had led the army against her, had hated her fiercely. But once she was dead, the Romans had shown that they could be magnanimous, and through the poem, had acknowledged her nobility.

_Requiescat in pace. Rest in peace._ For the Ancients, after death there was no reason to keep up the hate. Once a person's life was extinguished, even one who had been hated wasn't remembered as an enemy, but simply as a fellow human being.

Bella checked her notes once again. She had a test in two days and needed good grades. She'd been above reproach for the past five months, never missing a day of school of work, never breaking curfew. Her grades were perfect, and she wanted them to stay that way. Otherwise, Charlie would send her...She shook her head, pushing away the unwanted thought, and resumed studying. She didn't want to be sent back to her mother; it was out of question.

Her attention was caught by the date of the poem. She was reflecting about words that had been written more than two thousand years ago. What was the world like back then?

This time she wasn't able to stop her course of thoughts soon enough. There was someone she knew who would see what the world would be like in two thousand years.

She imagined the centuries Edward would live as if they were a neverending path, stretching in front of him; he would go on, decades and millennia after her own death. Just the thought made her shudder.

Days were continuing to pile up. They had become weeks, and it had been almost five months since the last time she'd seen him. Someday, there would be no one on Earth who would remember her. Nobody human, that was. She was going to survive in Edward's memory, but she knew it would be only because of his impossibility to forget, not because he wanted to remember her. She supposed he would bury the memory of her under myriads of other days, until his distractions, like a thick veil of dust, would cover every moment they'd spent together.

Bella took a breath. She had to try twice before air could properly fill her lungs. It was always the same. Every time her mind betrayed her and made her remember him, she felt her heart slamming against her ribcage and feared that the pain would prevent her even from breathing.

_Rest in peace_. She wondered if she was ever going to be at peace again and remembered the nights when she'd fallen asleep in his arms, certain that no dream could be sweeter than the reality they were living.

_He's been such a jerk._ The way one of her schoolmates had defined Edward resurfaced in her thoughts. To the people she saw every day, Edward was nothing but the brooding guy who'd left her behind, making her pine for him. Since she'd been found in the woods, nearly comatose, the rumors in the small town hadn't stopped. Edward was judged and criticized by everyone who knew how his leaving had affected her. It seemed that people couldn't leave her or him in peace. Unless...

Bella had already surrendered to the awareness that she couldn't fit in any way into Edward's present or in his future. So she focused on his past and made her decision.

_What would you think of it? s_he silently asked him. He'd vowed that they weren't going to meet again. He was never going to know what she would do, and why.

But she felt compelled to fix her reflections on a piece of paper. It was less than a message in a bottle. She had no need address her note, since she had the certainty that he would never see it anyway.

_I'm losing you_. _Through our classmates, through the people in Forks, through Charlie's eyes...I see what they think of you, and I don't recognize you anymore. Yesterday I overheard Jessica and Mike talking about us. Or better, I should say "you" and "me." There's no "us." Not anymore. She said that I've lost more weight, that she's worried. I heard the word "bastard" coming out of Mike's mouth. I suppose you're the "Cullen" he was talking about. I wanted to punch him in the guts. What if, sooner or later, I'll believe them? I'm afraid I'll forget the way you laughed, the touch of your hands when you ruffled my hair, the first time you told me a joke. I don't want to end up hating you. I can't let myself do so._

On the following morning, she made up her mind, ready to put her resolution into practice.

In the evening, Edward Cullen would still be a mythological creature for her. But not a vampire, not anymore. This time, he would become a ghost.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Charlie averted his eyes from his plate only when it was emptied. "It was good, Bells," he mumbled, referring to the second helping of meat stew he'd just eaten. He eyed his daughter's plate, and the smile disappeared from his face. "Aren't you hungry?"

"I had a snack this afternoon," she replied lamely. The knot in her stomach, a reminder of what she was going to tell Charlie, had prevented her from taking more than a few forkfuls of food.

He left his seat, bringing his plate to the sink. "That boy..." he muttered under his breath.

She called him back. "Dad, can we talk?"

He sat back immediately and took in his daughter's features. For the umpteenth time, he blamed the Cullen boy for having stolen the color from his child. He noticed that Bella's eyes were glistening. It was odd. He'd seen her losing her smile, as if she'd unlearned how to be happy. He'd seen the light fade from her eyes, as if everything in her had become gray. But never, since Edward Cullen had left her, had she cried in front of him.

"What's happened?" he asked. He would have wanted his tone to be softer, but his concern didn't allow him to do so.

"It's about Edward..."

If Charlie could have growled, he would have done it then. He didn't want that name mentioned in his house. His fist landed on the table. He slackened the blow at the last moment, but not enough to prevent Bella from being startled by his outburst.

"What's the matter?" His voice went low, the words interspersed with a huff that resembled the one of a bull that had just had a red cloth waved in his face.

"I want to tell you the truth about Edward," Bella went on. "The reason why he left."

"Wasn't his family relocating?"

She nodded. "That's part of the truth."

"Go on." Different scenarios began to parade in his mind. Had one of the Cullen boys gotten himself in trouble? The doctor and his wife were good people, and their kids had never created any problems, but after all...the sight of his broken daughter told him what Edward Cullen could do.

_Point of no return_, Bella thought, as her words began to spill from her lips.

"_You are a terrible actress." _Edward had told her._ "I'd say that career path is out for you."_ At the time, none of them could know that Bella was a bad liar – not due to her lack of abilities, but simply because, so far, she'd never had a strong enough reason for lying.

"Edward was ill," she confessed.

Charlie refrained from commenting. In his mind, the image of Edward – pale, always by himself, a good student but never involved in sports – mingled with the one of his father and of the excellent reputation Dr. Cullen had earned at the hospital.

Bella closed her eyes, replaying the little speech she'd prepared. When she spoke, her voice was little more than a whisper.

"They moved since Edward needed be treated in a big hospital. Dr. Cullen had a colleague who could help him. Or so he hoped." She choked on her breath before delivering the worst part of her lie. "Edward didn't want to keep in touch. His condition was worsening. He was scared. And then..."

Bella's first sob put Charlie on alert. "No..." he murmured, too low to be heard.

Charlie Swan had seen the worst in his job. He'd acclimated to the idea of death–as well as one could, he supposed. He could see a corpse without flinching, without giving too much thought to the idea that it could be him at any time.

But he would never get used to the death of a child. Whoever the kid was, whatever the cause of his death, when a young one died, he wasn't an experienced policeman anymore. He was just a parent who knew that someone else – a father like him, with the same worries and the same hopes – would have to deal with the loss of a child.

Bella's words tore through him and had the power to make everything still around them. "Edward died."

On her lips, the lie felt like bitter venom. But, like a medication, it brought her a sort of relief.

Finally, she could cry.

She sobbed in the warm refuge of her father's embrace.

For the first time since Edward had left, Bella slept without nightmares.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Small towns were notorious for the way news spreads around. Like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, Edward's story was reconstructed and discussed by the dutiful citizens of Forks. Once they'd gotten the key – it didn't matter that it was the wrong one – it seemed that it answered all the numerous questions that the Cullens' presence had elicited during the few years they'd spent in the town.

Slowly, Edward became human in the eyes of his former schoolmates. His apparent perfection had been like an ivory tower, separating him from his peers. But if he could be reached by a serious illness, if he was also mortal – his death being the definitive proof of that – the people who had admired, feared, and envied him could consider him one of them.

The pity for him seemed so genuine that even Bella was tempted to believe that he'd been forced to leave, that a terrible Fate – and not his will – had led him to that shadowy spot in the woods where he'd abandoned her.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Alone in her room, Bella wondered what her friends were doing. When they'd invited her to join them for an evening at a diner, and she'd refused, no one had insisted. Angela had given her arm a light squeeze, with the silent promise that, if Bella wanted to open up with her, she would offer her support.

At the diner, everyone tried to have fun, but the thought of Edward's passing and of Bella's grief loomed over them until they ended up talking about the Cullen boy.

"My father would like to organize a memorial service for him," Angela announced to her friends.

"The Cullens didn't seem like a religious family," Mike recalled.

"Sometimes Dr. Cullen attended services," Angela pointed out.

Jessica caressed Mike's hand lightly. He was there – warm and alive. There had been a time when she'd hoped, like any other girl in Forks, that Edward Cullen would notice her, that maybe he would give her a chance. Now she was relieved that she wasn't in Bella's shoes.

If the guys had paid attention to the dark street outside the diner, they would have noticed the shadow of a tall man, rushing away and disappearing into the woods.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

For more than four months, Edward had deluded himself. He'd thought he could be strong enough to keep his promise to Bella. But he'd failed.

At last, the thought that he would come back – that he _was _going back to her in a matter of a few days – had become as necessary for him as sunlight was for a plant. He was sure that, at any moment, he would show up at her window. The hell he'd put himself on in his last day in Forks wasn't without an exit.

He would ask for Bella's forgiveness – the words had already formed so many times in his mind. He would explain, he would tell her that he'd lied...then he would beg her to take him back.

There were days when his hopes were marred by fears, though. He'd steadied himself, imagining that things could have changed for her. Bella could have moved on; she could have even left Forks and gone back to her mother. But those fears were like dark clouds. They came and passed away. The image in his heart was stronger than the clouds: whenever he envisioned the different paths Bella could have taken, he also saw himself joining her, taking her hand back in his.

Finally, the day came. He'd reached a point when he was struggling to make it through a single hour. No more. Soon, so soon, he would be in her life again.

But Edward's hopes shattered when he reached Forks.

He was particularly attuned to pick up his name in people's thoughts. At first, he couldn't understand why so many were thinking or talking about him. He didn't want to meet any of them. Bella would be the first to see that he was back. So he resolved to lurk in the darkness, following the musings of the people of Forks.

What they showed him was far beyond what even he – a brilliant, supernatural creature – could have foreseen.

Through the minds he listened to, he worked backwards, reconstructing what people believed about him, how the news had spread, and who had been the source. He had to know. He had to discover what had lead Bella – he was almost going to say _his _Bella – to fake his death.

His hands trembled – the sign of his new fragility – as he cracked her window open. When he'd left her, it had been as if he were closing a door. He'd promised that he wouldn't ever go back and put his hand on that telltale doorknob. But he hadn't considered that someone – that Bella – could have wanted to lock him out.

He looked at the homework on her desk. He quickly read an essay she'd been working on during the evening. _She's brilliant_, he thought, a hint of smile on his face. He was proud of her. Since that long-ago day when they'd become lab partners in biology, he'd noticed how smart and challenging she could be; at the same time, he'd learned how unaware she was of that. She could be anything she wanted to become. And yet... memories from the prom came to his mind. She would have chosen him over everything else. She'd thought that becoming like him would have been a special event. _"You thought that would be a black tie occasion, did you?" _he'd teased.

Who was the one who deserved to be mocked now?

He'd tried to stay away from her, and what were the consequences? He'd thought that he was leaving for her sake, that he was letting her live her human life, but the minds he had read in Forks had showed him how he'd managed only to make her suffer. Like a coward, he had run away from those who were thinking about how badly Bella had coped with his leaving. If she ever welcomed him back in her life, would she still ask him to change her? And what would his answer be this time?

He glanced over at her sleeping form. She was brilliant, and she was so many other things ... beautiful, and caring, and insightful and ... he had to stop. Otherwise, nothing would have prevented him from approaching her and brushing her lips with his own.

_What happened to you?_ he silently asked her. She'd lost weight. On her face, even when she was sleeping, he could see the signs of an ingrained tension, as if she were trying to conceal pain. She was hurting, and it was his fault.

He spotted a crumpled piece of paper on the desk and began to read.

_I'm losing you..._

Here was the answer.

That was the reason why she'd lied, telling everyone that he was dead. Even after he'd hurt her so deeply, had she tried to protect him? Had she lied to make people stop blaming him?

Or did her decision mean that he really was dead to her? She would have had every right to do so.

He sat on the rocking chair, his face buried in his hands. Memories of the time he'd feared he was going to lose her for good suffocated him. But even then, when James had attacked her and she'd been nearly killed, he'd made contingency plans. He'd considered his self-destruction, as he could not and would not survive without her if she had died. But what would he do now? In her world, in her daily life, he'd become the one who didn't exist anymore.

He could jump from the windowsill and let her go on with her life. Or he could stay and talk to her.

Like a beacon of light, a soft voice called to him when he was drowning in his thoughts.

"Edward..."

He stilled in his seat and looked at her. "I'm back," he murmured.

"But you can't be." Her voice was thick, her eyes still heavy with sleep. She blinked, as if she was struggling to see him better in the darkness. But she closed her eyes again, lingering between sleeping and waking. "You're dead."

He cringed. "I am, if that's what you want."

He could slip away into the night, and Bella would likely think that their encounter had just been a strange dream.

Or he could stay and talk to her.

It was his turn to decide.

And so he did.

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><p><strong>This is not the end...stay tuned!<strong>

**Thanks for reading! Please review.**

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><p><strong><em>Thank you!<em> **to my lovely friends **Camilla10**, **Miaokuancha**, **Marlena580**, and **Jmolly**. Their expertise, support, and generosity mean the world to me!

I'm currently posting my second multichapter story, _An Italian Winter_. Would you like to check it? Reviewers get a little gift.

My first multichapter story, _De Immortalitate_ - an AU/vamp TwiFic set in the Roman Empire - is now complete.

I'm on Twitter (**RaumTweet**).


	2. He Was Here

**Raum**

_**A Good Liar**_

**Summary**: "The first time the Grim Reaper visited Edward, it was in the form of the Spanish influenza. The second time, Death had the lovely face of Bella Swan."

**Disclaimer**: I don't own _Twilight_. But y'all already knew it.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: He Was Here<strong>

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><p>Bella's hand trembled as she flicked the switch, and light filled her room. She looked around frantically, air coming out from her in quick breaths.<p>

"No..." a murmur died on her lips.

She was alone.

_It __wasn't __a __dream_, she thought. _It's __him. __Edward __was __here_. But there was nothing in the room but her crushed hopes. She buried her face in her palms, as if she wanted to hide her tears from herself, too. _I'm __going __crazy_.

A shiver ran down her arms like an icy finger on her bare skin. She hugged herself and pulled the comforter around her shoulders. A glance to the alarm clock told her that she had some time if she wanted to rest, but sleeping was out of question.

It wasn't long before she heard sounds coming from Charlie's room. At the crack of dawn her father announced himself with a light knock on her door.

"Bells," he called quietly. He found her sitting on her bed, lost in her thoughts. Despite the heavy blanket, she was shivering.

"Morning, kiddo. Did you wake up early today? I'm going to fish with Billy and I'll be at home for dinner. You okay with that?"

"Sure," she mumbled. Until last evening, she would have enjoyed the opportunity to spend a day on her own. Now, she was aware that being alone would make thinking about Edward more difficult to avoid.

Charlie stared at her. She wanted to duck her head, trying to escape from his silent scrutiny. Instead, she forced herself to smile. Her father hadn't spent a moment with his friends since she had announced Edward's death. She didn't want to rob him of a day of leisure. "Enjoy your day and say hi to Billy for me, okay?"

A muffled noise caught her attention as Charlie closed the door behind himself and left. _How __is __it __possible..._Bella kicked away the blanket and rose to her feet. She rushed toward the window. _I'm __not __crazy._The window was slightly open, and a light breeze had shaken the frame and caused the noise.

It hadn't been a dream.

She leaned her hands on the windowsill; she caressed the frame, where _his_ hands had been. His hands...she brought her cheek to the cold glass, as if Edward had left a caress for her there.

"Come back," she whispered into the milky morning light. If he was still around, he would hear her. "Please, come back to me."

But like a snake, fear crept through her thoughts. What if he'd had second thoughts, and after coming back had decided to leave her again? What if he...Bella stiffened as the consequences of her words – of her lie – became clear in her mind. She had blocked Edward not only out of her own life, but the lives of everyone they knew in Forks. Before he showed up in town, she had to tell him what she had done. She swallowed hard and shut her eyes, not wanting even to imagine what would happen if she were already too late.

Her legs were wobbling as she tugged on her jeans and a brown hoodie, but she managed not to stumble while getting dressed. In her haste, she didn't even finish lacing up her shoes, already anxious to leave and follow the road she had avoided since last September.

Only a few weeks ago she had considered a visit to the Cullen house. Maybe it would have given her a way to overcome the memory of her ill-fated birthday party. But then she had changed her mind. What could she have found there but an abandoned house? What had been a home for her was now just an empty building, left behind and forgotten. Just like her.

But today her visit had a purpose. If Edward was back, chances were that he was at his house. She would look for him and confess what she had done.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Bella didn't even try to stop the flood of memories that invaded her mind as she drove her truck out of the main part of town. She recalled the first time she had passed over the bridge at the Calawah River and headed northward.

Edward had been driving that time. Otherwise, she would never have been able to find the right way through the misty forest. They had taken an unpaved road which would have gone totally unnoticed among the ferns.

Over the past summer, the forest encroaching on both sides had become a familiar view for her. Images of Jasper and Emmett playing through the woods flickered through her mind. Those woods, now silent, had echoed with the laughter of the vampires she considered brothers.

Oddly enough, she, an only child, had found new siblings in people who were older than her grandparents. Maybe her mother was right when she had said that Bella was born thirty-five and was getting more middle-aged.

She pushed on the accelerator. Had the house always been so far away? The trees lining the road seemed to move faster as she increased the truck's speed. Memories of the runs she had enjoyed with Edward through those same woods didn't take long to show up.

Soon enough, the Cullens' front lawn was visible. Bella recognized the six ancient cedars that shaded an entire acre with their vast sweep of branches.

_They were coming back from a walk on one of the last nice days they had spent together, just before her eighteenth birthday. Edward pointed to the cedars. _

"_Carlisle and Esme, Emmett and Rosalie, Jasper and Alice." He compared the trees to his family members._

_She glanced at Edward. "What about you?"_

_He shrugged. A small smile appeared on his face but didn't reach his eyes. _

_She looked up at the trees. Through the decades, time was only going to add to the fragrant spread of their evergreen branches. Just as it would add wisdom and dignity to the Cullens. Didn't Edward consider himself a member of the family? Bella recalled when he had told her that he had always felt like an outcast – the seventh wheel. _

_Edward circled her shoulders with his arm. "One day we'll plant two trees." His gaze at her was so tender, yet so sad and uncertain. "Is a cedar okay with you, too?"_

_Bella had thought that maybe he was considering the possibility of making her immortal like himself. He had always refused to consider it, but she had hoped against hope that he might have begun to change his mind._

_Alas, the day to plant the new trees had never arrived. _

Bella stopped the engine of her car and took in the sight of the huge house in front of her. Only then did she let out a breath of relief. Had she been afraid that the house had disappeared, just like its owners?

In the small meadow in front of the building, the vegetation was so thick that it was almost unrecognizable. The flora hadn't waited long to reclaim any land that was left unguarded, and the grass was high and untrimmed. Tall ferns had infiltrated the meadow around the house, crowding against the trunks of the cedars.

Bella wondered if the ferns had also covered the clearing where Esme took care of her flowers. She wasn't brave enough to go there and see. When she closed her eyes, they prickled with unshed tears as she recalled a memory from last August.

_It was a warm summer afternoon. Edward was with Rosalie, fixing a car in the garage. Bella had watched them working at vampire speed until her head was almost spinning. She had gone out to enjoy the sun and have a short walk._

_Esme was crouched in the backyard, her fingers holding a creamy white flower in its full bloom. It resembled a rose, but its petals were thicker. Her gaze trailed over the blossom, and a proud smile spread on her face. _

_The sun caressed both Esme and her flowers, embracing them with its golden heat, and Bella stilled, amazed by the vision of the shimmering vampire. The finest porcelain couldn't have reproduced the elegance of Esme's features as the sunlight brought them out. The soft caramel waves of her hair, basking in the rays, were like a golden halo around her serene face and the fair column of her neck. Her light clothes – a simple cotton sheath dress with a bateau neckline – hugged her slender body. She lifted her head, aware of the presence of the girl she considered her youngest daughter. Esme's smile didn't fade; she was at ease in front of Bella's human eyes, even in the moment when she most revealed her inhumanity. _

"_Are they roses?" Bella asked quietly._

"_Gardenias, actually," Esme explained. "They are similar in shape to a rose but live well without extreme heat. Light shade works well for them." She motioned toward Bella, inviting her closer. The sun had slightly warmed her skin, so it wasn't too icy when she enclosed the girl in the strong, affectionate refuge of her hug._

_That evening, Bella recalled the scene of 'The Little Prince' where he was taming his fox, and the fox was taming him. _

"_First you will sit down at a little distance from me – like that – in the grass," the fox said. "I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings. But you will sit a little closer to me, every day..." _

_Hadn't it been this way with Edward and the Cullens? _

_The first time Edward had touched her face, brushing the back of his cool hand from her temple to her jaw, he had been so guarded._

_But the time came when she could hug him as tightly as she wanted, and his stone body would mold around her. _

_The fascinating lion had been tamed by his lamb. Or so she had believed. _

Bella couldn't resolve herself to open her car door. No other car was in sight, but Edward could have left his in the garage. _If _he was actually back. If he hadn't already left...again.

She leaned her head on the steering wheel. She had been so eager to arrive, and now she wished that the drive had lasted longer. Fear upon fear began to pile up in her mind. She looked over at the house, and though nothing had changed on the outside, it now looked like a fitting haunt for vampires. Or for ghosts – what her words had made Edward become in Forks.

Edward showed up in her mind exactly as she remembered him during the last time they had talked. He had appeared inhuman then – not because of his stony features or the speed with which he had rushed away, leaving her in the woods – but because only a supernatural creature could have the ability to hurt a human so deeply and yet leave her alive.

Alive? She was nothing but a hollow shell, filled every day with a new wave of longing.

Her fingers reached the car keys, wondering if she ought to set the car in motion and take her leave. She had envisioned herself telling Edward about her lie. What if he had wanted to come back, not to her, but to Forks? It was one of the few places where he could go outside in the day, and she had taken it from him. Facing his anger would be too much. And the explanation...she would have to admit that she still loved him. But he...

"I can't," she said aloud, shaking her head. She couldn't face his rejection. Not again.

Yet if he were back...hadn't she wished for it for months?

"Be brave," she told herself. She let go of the keys and opened the car door. Her steps made the gravel crunch as she began to cross the driveway and walk onto the lawn. If she could see him again, only for a moment...the desire made her move faster toward the house.

Bella stopped midway between her truck and the building. Eyes shut, she focused on the sounds around her. Nothing unusual. Pressing two fingers on the hollow of her throat, she checked her pulse. Every beat of her heart – fast and strong, she could almost hear it pounding – confirmed her fears. If Edward had been at home, he would have heard her by now. If he wanted to see her, he would have reached her already in the lawn. Slowly, Bella stepped toward the front door. She tried a single knock, already turning back toward her truck.

She got no answer.

Had it been just a dream? She recalled what she had done the previous evening. A light drizzle was falling, and she had added another blanket to the bed. Her room window had been closed; there were no doubts about it.

She hurried to her truck, nearly running. She didn't need to leave a message, and she wouldn't come again. Her scent would scream that she had been here. While disappearing from her life hadn't been an issue for Edward, she didn't have any way to hide from the enhanced senses of a vampire.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The sound of the truck's engine lulled her on her way home. She should have paid more attention to the road but couldn't convince herself to do so. _After __all, __it's __not __quite __the __busy __road_, she scoffed, pushing on the accelerator. The sooner she could distance herself from the house, the better. Only when she arrived at the main junction did she give the traffic more than a distracted glance.

Her eyes met a familiar face. Someone was waiting for her.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Who's waiting for Bella? Let me know your theories!<br>**

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><p><strong>Notes<strong>

**_Thank you!_ **to my wonderful friends **Camilla10**, **Miaokuancha**, **Marlena580**, and **Jmolly**.

In _New __Moon_, Bella visits the empty Cullen house in January. Here, the visit in January didn't happen – although she considered it – so it's the first time she returns since the Cullens' departure.

The next chapter of _A Good Liar_ is due to be posted in two weeks, while _An Italian Winter_ is due to be updated next Friday. If you haven't read my first multichapter story, _De Immortalitate_, why don't you give it a chance? The story is complete.

I'm on Twitter (**RaumTweet**).


	3. Stuck

**Raum**

_**A Good Liar**_

Who was waiting for Bella? Only a few readers guessed it right. Here's the answer._  
><em>

**Disclaimer**: I don't own _Twilight_. But you already knew it.

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: "Stuck"<strong>

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><p>Leaning against his motorcycle, with arms folded in front of his muscular chest, Jacob Black could be intimidating. But his expression opened into a welcoming smile as his eyes caught Bella's through the windshield.<p>

Like a sunray, his grin penetrated the thick cloud of her sadness. Her thoughts shifted to the summers she had spent in Forks visiting Charlie. Years had gone by, but Jacob's infectious smile hadn't changed. The boy who, in their childhood, had been her best friend in Washington – the only one who could keep her happy when she missed Phoenix and her friends – was in front of her, hidden inside the man he was becoming.

She parked quickly on a stretch of firm shoulder and walked over to him. Despite being slanted against his bike seat with legs casually crossed, Jacob towered over her imposingly. He had always been tall for his age, but since Bella was two years older than him, their height difference hadn't been huge. Now, instead, it seemed that he had grown yet again in the few days since she'd seen him.

"Bells, what are you doing here?"

She shrugged, perhaps a little defensively. "I went for a drive."

"You shouldn't wander alone in these woods."

Her eyebrows jerked up in disbelief. Jacob usually didn't tell her what she should or shouldn't do. Even when she had brought him two old motorcycles, asking to fix them and give her lessons, he hadn't objected. Edward would have been mad at just the idea of her on a motorcycle...she pushed the thought away. Edward would never know. He didn't _care_ to know.

Since that first day at his garage, Bella had known that she could trust Jake. It was thanks to him that Charlie hadn't discovered anything about her riding a motorcycle – or the double visit to the ER that this new hobby had cost her. _I understand_, Jake had told her, when she'd asked him to keep his mouth shut.

But this time he wouldn't understand.

"I needed some time to think," she mumbled, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "What about you? What are _you_ doing here?"

He turned his gaze toward the woods where she had just come out, and Bella feared he had fully realized where she had just been.

"I saw you taking that road and waited for you," he admitted. "It's better if next time you choose another way, okay?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Were you following me?"

He held up his hands, signaling that he meant no harm. "No. I was coming to visit you and caught sight of your truck on the road. So I waited for you."

She hadn't spent a lot of time at the Cullen house – the more she stayed there, the more she hurt – but still... "You stayed here all this time, just waiting for me?"

He smirked. "I don't mind waiting for you." His words seemed flirtatious, but his gaze darkened. "When I saw you taking that way..." he nodded toward the narrow road that led to the Cullens' lawn. "Even if the Cullens are gone, I don't like the idea of you being over there."

Bella stiffened. Jacob knew where she had gone, and he had already jumped to the wrong conclusions. "The Cullens wouldn't have made the woods less safe for me," she retorted. "You should know that. Weren't you the one who told me they weren't dangerous?"

He averted his eyes. "Speaking of them, I wanted to talk with you at your place, but since we're here." He gestured to the space between them. "I've heard the news." He reached out a hand, but she ducked her head before he could cup her cheek. A heavy silence descended on them. Jacob was the one who broke it, stumbling on his own words. "Do you know how it happened? I mean...Charlie told Billy that Edward was ill, but we know..."

For once, he didn't call Edward a _leech_ or anything offensive. Bella recalled how the Quileutes had celebrated the Cullens' departure with bonfires. Just after she had been found in the woods, she'd heard Mrs. Stanley calling Charlie to say that she'd seen fires out on the sea cliffs. But this time, if Jacob was relieved by the death of his natural enemy, he wasn't showing it off, at least not in front of her.

And yet she couldn't stop herself from unleashing her frustration on him. "I'm sorry to burst your bubble, Jake, but Edward is not dead. You of all people should realize that!"

Jacob let out a bitter laugh. "What do you mean? That he'll live on in your memories?"

It didn't take her long to understand what he was referring to. The Quileute believed that the dead never left, so long as they were remembered. Jacob believed it, too. He had told her that when he had lost his mom, the certainty that she was still alive in his memories had helped him to grieve. But the Cold Ones...no. According to the Quileute legends, they were nothing but soulless _corpses_ that had no business still walking the earth. No Quileute would think a Cold One worthy of keeping alive in memory.

She avoided his gaze.

"Bells," he called her, his voice less harsh. "Charlie talked to Billy and said you were the one who got the news. I knew it was strange, since the Cullens didn't keep in touch, but still..." He straightened and stepped away from his motorcycle. "Vampires don't die easily, that's for sure. The guys at the rez said it must have been a fight with other bloodsuckers. Anyway, one less leech to worry about would be good news."

She winced at his callous words but refrained from talking further. She knew how angry Jake still was, seeing her so broken over the loss of Edward. Every time he had talked with her about the Cold Ones, he had tried to work an edge of menace into the conversation. It seemed that Jacob and Edward had something in common: they both believed that she should have been scared, repulsed by those inhuman creatures.

_Forgive me_, she wanted to say, knowing how she was letting him down after all he had done to lift the dull veil of sadness that was swallowing her.

The first time she had gone to the reservation, she had been ashamed of herself. She knew that the tension on her face couldn't go unnoticed, not even if she tried to smile. She had lost weight and had purple circles under her eyes; rain was dripping through her hair, some drops trickling across her cheeks as if they were tears.

She had been so sure she'd be faced with his pity. Instead, Jacob had reacted to her unexpected arrival with a smile so big that it seemed his cheeks would hurt. When she had explained the reason for her visit – that she had come just to see him – he had beamed.

Less than a month had gone by since that afternoon, and Jacob had succeeded in making her smile, joke, laugh. And then one day, when she had rolled her eyes at him after the umpteenth joke about the contrast between his russet skin and her pallid shade, he had circled her shoulders with his arms and smirked at her. _"No way you can be numbered among the pale-faces,"_ he had said. _"You and Charlie are family."_

But that respite from her sorrow hadn't lasted long.

At first, she had tried to delay the moment she would have to lie to Jake, too. Each day that she had put off calling him or visiting the reservation, she had hoped Jacob would assume she was just busy at school. Now she chastised herself. She should have considered that Charlie would surely talk with Billy. She wondered how it had gone when Billy gave his tribe the unbelievable announcement that one of the Cullens was gone for good.

With a kick, Jacob sent a stone off the road, bringing Bella back sharply to the present and to the friend in front of her. "So now you say he's not dead. Fine. I just hope they aren't back."

"They're not back," she confirmed, her voice hoarse. She dismissed the thought of her open window at home, or the figure she had seen...no, she had _thought_ she'd seen in her room the previous night.

"So what is this story about Cullen? Are you covering for them? Is it another one of those bloodsuckers' lies?" His words were harsh.

"No!" Bella almost shouted. "It's _my_ lie, this time."

Jacob looked at her in confusion. "_Your_ lie? What the hell are you talking about?"

She waved her hands in front of herself. "Forget it," she huffed. "You're right, the Cullens didn't keep in touch, so I don't know how they are." She moved back toward her truck, but he grabbed her by the wrist. She whirled around and glared at him. He released her arm and quickly strode in front of her to block her path.

"Please, don't go," he pleaded. "Have the Cullens reeled you into some kind of game they're playing? Whatever happened, you can talk to me. You don't have to pretend with me."

Bella looked up at him. She scanned his features, searching the black depths of his eyes for something to comfort her. His gaze softened; his arms were slightly distanced from his body, as if inviting her into his embrace. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she recalled a time when she had found and offered refuge in those arms.

When Jacob had lost his best friend, he had confided in her. She remembered the afternoon when he told her that Embry had been avoiding him. As she had listened to Jake, his worry had become her own; she knew too well how it felt, being rejected by the people you trusted and loved.

She had thrown her arms around him instinctively, wrapping them around his waist. _"It will be okay!" _she had promised, trying to be convincing, and not for his good alone. She had to hope that sooner or later things would get better for herself, had felt the tension leaving his body and realized that the contact was comforting her as well.

Now she wanted to throw her arms around him again, press her face against his chest and bury in his warmth all the painful memories that still made her shiver.

"You don't have to lie to me," Jacob went on, his voice huskier.

When she had started the lie, Bella had only thought it would make things better somehow. But things hadn't gone the way she had intended. Charlie's sadness over the death of the boy who had shown his girl how love could bring both joy and hurt had taken her by surprise and compounded her own. She had witnessed the news of Edward's death spreading in the little town, and instead of finding relief in the ending of snide remarks, she had found herself buried under an avalanche of loss. Even though she knew that his 'death' was a lie, with everyone with everyone offering their condolences, it felt as if it were horribly real. She hadn't been ready for the finality that her lie had brought her. And yet, in all the days and weeks since she had brought this on herself, she hadn't backed down. She had never allowed her facade, or the lie it hid, to crack.

But now she slipped. "After the Cullens left, it seemed that everyone was mad at Edward because he hurt me," she murmured, her voice unsure.

Tentatively, Jacob's fingers touched her hair, not daring to go too far. "Go on."

"But I couldn't stand it anymore...it wasn't the way I wanted to remember him," she admitted. "So I said that Edward was ill and died, hoping that everyone would stop blaming and hating him." Her voice was close to an incoherent mumble as she finished speaking.

Her confession left Jacob at a loss for words. "I saw what the Cullens did to you." Gone was the tenderness with which he had spoken before. "They _deserve_ to be hated."

"I shouldn't have told you anything," Bella snapped, angry at herself for opening up, and angry at Jake for not understanding, right after promising that he would.

"You shouldn't have _lied_," he seethed. "And for what? To make people pity that monster? You, more than anyone else, should know how evil he can be."

The Elders' stories Jacob had shared with her came to her mind. According to them, the Cold Ones were the most evil liars. Even though they claimed that they didn't harm humans, how could those liars be trusted? Who could know when they might get too hungry to resist? The Cullens mingled with humans at school or at work, but it was just a well-crafted pretense. Jacob had told her he bet they forged false birth and death certificates all over the country, always changing their identity, but not their nature: they were nothing but monsters in disguise.

She distanced herself from him. "You don't _understand_!"

"What don't I understand?" he snarled. "You almost died because of those leeches. It took you months to begin living again, and after all he did to you, you still protect him?"

"Do you think I could just turn my feelings off? Edward is still important to me," she retorted.

Jacob was almost shaking in anger. "You still love him, and at this point I wonder if anything will ever open your eyes."

She looked down, defeated. "What if I don't want to stop loving him?" she whispered.

He clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides, struggling to control his words. "Even if he hasn't fed on your blood, that leech took something no less important from you," he went on. "I vowed that parasite wouldn't suck out your joy again. Bella, I thought that if I had to fight to make him disappear from your life, then I would. But what can I do now?" He huffed, exasperated. "You lied to Charlie, to your friends, to everyone," he accused. "What has that bloodsucker done to you?"

"Please," she begged. "Don't tell anyone what I told you. Please, Jake." Her eyes brimmed with tears.

He went back to his motorcycle and slammed his foot down on the pedal, starting the engine. "I won't talk, but it's better if you keep your distance from me. Don't think that I'm going to play along and join you in lying."

Bella felt as if she had been slapped in the face. Rooted to the spot, she stared as Jacob got ready to leave her. _Stuck. _That's what she was. She had only deluded herself, thinking that she could move on. Flashes of the afternoons she had spent with Jake in the last weeks paraded through her memory – the moment he had wrapped his hands around hers on the first time they had ridden the motorcycles. How she had felt light and buoyant in his company, learning to feel enthusiasm again, after it had become such a rarity. The way he teased her, and the silvery echo of her own laughter.

Had they all been just delusions?

As if in slow motion, she watched Jacob crouch on the motorcycle seat and grab the handlebars. "Goodbye," he spat.

She bowed her head. It was as if the flickers of joy they had shared were fading with every passing moment, like color pictures becoming black and white. She could have reached him, maybe she could say something, but she didn't.

At a few miles behind her, the Cullen house stood among the trees, empty and sad. A few feet in front of her, Jacob's motorcycle rumbled and sped away. She was stuck between a past which couldn't be resurrected and a future she was renouncing.

She would never be what Jacob hoped her to become.

Only when Jacob was a distant dot on the horizon, Bella finally allowed herself to go home.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The sandwich she had prepared for her lunch tasted like sand. She couldn't swallow more than a few halfhearted mouthfuls, even though she had already skipped breakfast. She sipped a glass of milk, staring at the outside from the kitchen window. She recalled when she was a child and used to play in the backyard; every now and then, Charlie would check on her from that same window. It seemed that he didn't know what she was doing, but he didn't miss anything and was always ready to run out if she needed him. Even all these years, it was still that way. Bella had made her choices in her life – choices her parents weren't always aware of – but she knew that her father would never be too far away if she called him.

The promise to prepare a good dinner provided her with a way to make the hours go by less slowly. In the silence of her home, the only sound was the rhythmic knock of the knife on the chopping board as she gathered some vegetables and started a sauce with minced meat. The smell of the browned ingredients began to fill the room. She added the tomato sauce and covered the pot. According to the recipe, she had enough time to read something while she waited for the food to be ready. It occurred to Bella that if she and Jacob hadn't argued, she could have invited him and Billy over for dinner. She felt a pang of regret, thinking about Jacob, Billy, Charlie and herself enjoying a meal together.

As far as she knew, Edward could be a thousand miles from Forks right now, hunting in some woods or other – something she had never been allowed to see. Almost one year before, when she had asked him about it, he had almost snarled at her. He had limited himself to telling her how, in the moment of the kill, even the most controlled vampires were at the mercy of their predatory instincts, unstoppable in their thirst.

Bella froze as other warnings from Edward came back to mind.

_"Don't go into the woods alone."_

_She stared at him in blank confusion. "Why?"_

_He frowned, and his eyes were tight as he looked toward the trees. "I'm not always the most dangerous thing out there. Let's leave it at that."_

She remembered the open window in her room and the figure she had seen in the darkness. But this time, the memory didn't fill her with hope.

Another conversation replayed in her mind: the first time she had visited the Cullens, Edward had warned her about visitors who weren't like his family in their hunting habits. And then, she recalled the moment when James, Victoria and Laurent had crossed the baseball field...

She looked down at the scar on her wrist. Everything from her time with Edward had been wiped away – the only reminder she had been allowed to keep was a scar.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Bella would have liked to stay longer under the shower, putting off the moment she'd have to go and face another day at school. She got ready begrudgingly, took her backpack and jogged toward the truck. She looked up at the sky on her way out. At least it wasn't raining – if she was lucky, the sun would allow her to spend some time outside during lunch break.

She drove in a hurry, afraid she would arrive late at school. Only when she parked her car and retrieved her things did she notice there was something odd.

Under her backpack, a white envelope stood out on the passenger's seat. She took it gingerly, as if it might burn her fingers. The paper seemed elegant and expensive, but that was it – nothing was written on it. She peeked at the contents.

The envelope contained two pieces of paper.

Bella's eyes widened as she read the first one. According to the written words, she had a reservation for the Lake Union Room at the Space Needle in Seattle, for the next Saturday afternoon.

The other one wasn't printed. It was but two words handwritten on a small square of stationery.

"_Be safe_."

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>

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><p><strong>Notes<strong>

**_Thank you!_ **to my wonderful friends **Camilla10**, **Miaokuancha**, **Marlena580**, and **Jmolly**.

Ethelouise, I couldn't reply to your review because your PMs are disabled. Please drop me a line.

The next chapter of _A Good Liar_ is due to be posted in less than two weeks, while _An Italian Winter_ is due to be updated next Friday.

I'm on Twitter (**RaumTweet**).

_A Good Liar_'s extras are posted on: **h.t.t.p : ****/ ****/ ****myreadinglounge. ****blogspot. ****com/**


	4. Tapestry Threads

**Raum**

_**A Good Liar**_

****Disclaimer**: **I don't own _Twilight_. But you already knew it._**  
><strong>_

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: "Tapestry Threads"<strong>

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><p>Bella hung her skirt back in the closet and took a pair of jeans. The only concession she made to fashion was a dark green button-down shirt in lieu of one of her usual sweaters. She brushed her hair and pondered using some make-up, but she avoided it. After all, she had told Charlie that she would be spending the day in Seattle to visit some bookstores, not to go on a date. Was it a date? She pushed away the turmoil of questions and scenarios that had occupied her mind for the entire week. Hopefully, in a few hours she would get her answers.<p>

In the early morning, Charlie was still sleeping, since he was going to work a double shift in the afternoon and at night. Bella left him a note, telling him that she would pick up a book of fish recipes for him in Seattle, and slipped quietly out the door. Just a year before, her father had objected to Bella driving so far alone, worrying about car trouble. Now, as long as he saw his daughter coming back to life, she could have planned a trip to the moon and he wouldn't have objected.

Bella drove until she reached Montesano, where she stopped for fuel. When she arrived in Tacoma, she bought gas again, since she wanted to have enough for the return trip. She had an early lunch there—a small sandwich and a soda to calm her fluttering stomach. The directions she had for the Space Needle allowed her to get there in good time; her truck had behaved better than expected. She was excited to see that there were so many bookstores in walking distance of the tourist attraction. Hopefully, time would pass more quickly while flipping through novels – although she knew that, for every book she picked up, she would wonder if Edward would have enjoyed it.

She parked her truck and walked along the avenue running north toward the Needle. When she came close to a red brick building with green awnings, her attention was caught by a shop sign on the window: _Inner Chapters Bookstore and Café_. She entered the shop and found a cozy escape among shelves overflowing with books from floor to ceiling; among them she found not only the promised book of fish recipes for Charlie but also a wide selection of novels. On the cover of one of these was a drawing that resembled the bookstore she was visiting. Flipping through the book, she was struck by a passage:

"_Every few minutes, the door swung open and there was a visiting American scholar searching for original translations of Zola, an ornithologist with a question about a rare 17th-Century birding guide, a lost Australian physicist wondering how to get to the Pantheon so she could pay homage to the Curies. It was akin to hosting a running talk show with a never-ending series of eccentric guests, all of whom wanted to stay and talk for at least a little while._"

The story was about a bookstore in Paris, and the writer's words seemed to describe how Bella had often felt while reading – as if she were traveling through space and time; as if the people she got to know in the books could become her actual friends. Sometime she had felt closer to fictional characters than to the people she knew in real life. She wondered how she would look among the characters described in the novel. As she lazily caressed the cover, a question slipped through her thoughts: _Has he ever been to Paris?_

The book ended up among her other purchases. The roar of the traffic startled her when she walked back outside. The time she had spent in the quiet bookstore had been like a sweet dream, but now it was time to face reality.

She walked with her head down until the Space Needle came in sight. At the top of the building, she could find more than she would have dared to dream, or...

She didn't know anymore what to wish for.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Bella merged with the flow of tourists crowding the base of the tower. She retrieved her reservation from her purse and walked toward a girl at the reception desk. When she showed her the reservation, the girl eyed her, repressing a frown. Bella wondered about what kind of social events were hosted in the banquet space at the top of the tower and surmised that she didn't seem like the kind of person who would receive an invitation there.

"Follow me," the girl told her politely. "I'll escort you to the Lake Union Room."

They stepped away from the tourists waiting to purchase their tickets. When they arrived at the top of the tower, the girl motioned to a door. The walls were covered with wooden panels – behind them, could Edward already hear her heart pounding in her chest?

The receptionist graced her with a polite smile and a "Goodbye," before taking her leave. Bella swallowed hard and crossed the threshold of the reception hall.

The floor was covered with a thick carpet in shades of brown, but a generous portion of it had a shiny covering in what resembled granite. She moved toward the windows and cringed as her shoes squeaked on the polished surface. Although the day was cloudy, the view was breathtaking and ranged not only over the city but over the Elliott Bay Marina. Her eyes followed the huge line of windows, but suddenly it wasn't the landscape she was watching anymore.

She blinked as quickly as she could, fighting to keep the tears from blurring her vision and preventing her from seeing the person who had joined her in the room.

In the opposite corner, Edward smiled at her.

Bella felt even smaller and more out of place in the ample hall. She drank in his features as if she were a dry plant which had finally gotten some water; the depth of his gaze told her that he was doing the same. For the longest moment, neither of them moved. She was considering how he resembled a statue in his frozen perfection when Edward put a hand in the pocket of his dark jeans and shifted his weight. His words broke the spell.

"You came," he murmured. A sigh of relief accompanied the caress of his warm voice.

Bella pulled herself together and started toward him – this time she didn't even notice the sound of her steps on the shiny floor. She hadn't finished two steps before Edward had already run to her, his heady scent telling her that this time he was real and alive. _Alive_. Because life was what she saw when her eyes met his. The tenderness in them wrapped around her like a delicate embrace, a prelude to the moment when he actually gathered her into his arms.

She clutched his shirt and rested her cheek against his chest. If Bella could have stopped time, she would have done so in that moment. The thought that it might not last, and Edward might leave again in a few minutes, forced her to speak.

"We need to talk," she resolved herself to say, breaking the contact.

"Yes," he murmured, motioning to a table and two chairs set in the center of the room. "Would you like to sit? May I order you something to drink?"

She shook her head. "You were in my room last week," she said.

"I was."

She motioned to the elegant room around them. "So what does all this mean?" For a moment, the disappointment she had felt when she had found her room empty resurfaced. "I came to look for you at your house in Forks, but you weren't there."

"I didn't stop by the house. After I left your room, I came straight to Seattle."

Bella was relieved – chances were that he hadn't met anyone who would recognize him. "I've done something bad," she confessed. "I want to apologize, I didn't think you were ever coming back–" her voice broke before she could complete her sentence.

"Isabella." He pronounced her full name carefully, then lifted a hand and brushed her cheek. She doubted that she could trust what she was seeing, for the affection she could see in his eyes – the _love_, she would have dared to say – wasn't new. It was something she thought she had lost the day he had abandoned her. "I know what happened. People in Forks believe I died," he went on.

For a moment she wondered if, during the months they had spent apart, he had acquired the ability to read her mind. "How do you know?"

"When I came back, I wanted you to be the first person to know it. But I caught people thinking about me, and they unintentionally gave me an account of what had happened."

She looked down at the potted plant which adorned their table. "Are you angry at me?"

Edward's hand joined hers, and he searched for her eyes. "No," he said. A sad smile crept across his features. "No, Bella, how could I be?" The memory of the signs of distress he had seen on her face when he had come back had never stopped torturing him. Through the minds of the people he had listened to, he had seen how much pain he had caused. And then, there was the note he had read in her room. "I understand," he told her softly.

"You do?" she retorted. "That's good, because I don't. You said it was the last time I would see you, and then you came back, but only to leave again." She forced her tears back. Her voice was strained, but she went on. "And now this invitation. How long before you'll disappear again?"

The hurt she saw on his face stopped the flood of her words. "Do you want me to leave?" he asked.

She rose on her feet. "No!" she almost yelled. "But since when has what I want mattered?" She suppressed a sob. "I'm sorry. I know that I shouldn't have lied, and I'm ready to face the consequences of what I did." The weight of what she had gone through in the last months overwhelmed her. "I thought you would never discover what I had done, because by the time you would have ever returned to Forks, I – and everyone who knew us – would have already died."

Edward winced at the thought of her, still and cold, buried in a tomb in Forks or anywhere else. When Bella looked at him, she didn't see the immortal she remembered. In front of her, there was a boy – a young man who was sad and unsure of himself. He bowed his head, and his hair – the most human part of him – flopped over his eyes. As she reached out a hand and brushed it back, he raised his head and locked his eyes with hers.

"For almost ninety years I've walked among my kind and yours...I've read thousands of minds...I'd known you for months, and yet, I hadn't understood," he said, his voice no more than a whisper.

She came back to sit beside him. "What hadn't you understood?"

He took a deep breath before answering. "How my decision to leave made us both miserable. I considered what humans usually do – time heals their wounds. They forget and move on. I was willing to suffer whatever it took in order to keep you safe, but I didn't consider what _you_ would do, how you would react. When I came back to Forks, I saw."

Bella ducked her head. "You saw?" She had never wanted Edward to know how broken she had been; she felt weak in front of him.

His fingers trailed over her cheekbones and stopped at the base of her neck, over her shoulder, drawing her toward him. "I saw the way people thought about you, and listened to their worries for you," he recalled. "When I was in your room, Charlie couldn't sleep. He remembered how you had spent the last months and how much he'd blamed me for that. And then, he replayed in his mind the moment you told him that I was dead. He thought about Carlisle and Esme and their sorrow over the loss of their son. But more than all this, Bella, I couldn't catch a single word of hate from you toward me. I read your note, the one you left about the reasons why you lied–"

Her cheeks flushed, recalling what she had written there. Once again, on that piece of paper she had declared her love for the man who had told her that she wasn't good for him. She wriggled her way out of Edward's embrace.

"I know how you feel about me," she told him, struggling to keep her voice firm, "and I don't want to delude myself about you changing your mind. But the way I feel hasn't changed, either."

He gently held her hands. "You say you know how I feel," he told her quietly. "May I ask what you know?"

Bella's expression hardened. Her eyes bored into his, and this time she didn't fight against the tears. "Why are you doing this to me, Edward? Do you want me to repeat to you that you don't love me, that you don't want me, that you're tired of pretending? You can think that my memory is a sieve, but I haven't forgotten what–"

Edward cut her off vehemently. "Bella, everything I said that day was a lie!"

If Bella hadn't known that vampires couldn't cry, she would have thought that Edward was on the verge of tears.

"Those words were the very blackest kind of blasphemy," he went on, his voice lower. "I wasn't above anything to keep you safe, to the point that I'd renounce even the life you had given me back, and so I did. Because I love you, Bella. I've always loved you, and I always will. I was thinking of you, seeing your face in my mind, every second that I was away."

Bella gaped at him, tears streaming freely down her cheeks. "So... why...?" she trailed off in disbelief.

He took her by the hand and stood. "Please, follow me." He led her to a corner window. From there, they could gaze out at the city basking in the late afternoon light. "Do you know why I chose this place?"

He didn't wait for her answer and went on. "I came here more than thirty years ago. I was studying medicine at the time and was attending a conference, posing as Carlisle's brother. The Space Needle was already a big attraction, so I went for a visit. When I arrived at the top of the tower, I was impressed by the city below, swarming with thousands of people. Behind each of them, there was a story that was connected to other stories, like the threads of a tapestry. I'd already roamed the Earth for decades, but still, I felt like a thread that wasn't connected to anything else. Then I found you, Isabella, and finally I belonged. You brought the colors to my tapestry. But last September..."

He tightened his embrace around her and shut his eyes; both their minds went back to that day in the woods when he had abandoned her. "I was scared when I told you those lies. Before you, my life had been like a moonless night. You had shot across my sky like a meteor, setting everything on fire. I've already told you that I'm a selfish creature, so I didn't want to lose the brilliancy, the beauty you had brought. But I kept telling myself, _it's for her. You should protect her from what you are. She will be safe._ Instead I failed." He wiped the tears away from her cheeks. "I'm sorry. Sorry because I hurt you, sorry because I lied."

"You could have talked with me about your concerns. We could have faced them together," Bella countered.

"I know. I took your choices away from you," he admitted. "There's a reason why I didn't stay in your room last week."

"I thought it was a dream," she recalled. "But then I saw that the window had been left open."

He roamed her features with his gaze, eager to take them in after the time he had spent away from her. "Leaving was so difficult. I missed you, but I wanted to give you space and time." He smiled at her. "Do you recall what you told me when I was in your room?"

Bella's eyes widened. "I talked to you?"

Edward chuckled softly. "You did." The smile faded from his face. "I told you that I was back, and you said that I couldn't be. That I was dead."

She would have rushed to explain, but he went on. "I know you were half-sleeping, but your words made me realize that I couldn't stay there, not in that moment. I changed your life when I left, and I promised I wouldn't interfere again. I had no right to show up in your home and turn everything upside down."

"I wanted you to come back," she told him quietly. "I still can't believe that it's real – that you're here, talking with me. But I don't know whether I can trust you anymore. What if you're going to leave again?"

"You think I'm lying to you now?"

"Are you?" she challenged.

"You are everything to me, Bella, and I don't want to make the same mistake twice. I guess that only time will show you how I really feel. If you will allow me, that is."

She was afraid to let hope fill her heart. "So are you going to stay?" she asked.

His eyes lit up as a full smile spread across his face. "I am."

"But after my lie..."

"We'll figure it out," he reassured her.

She closed her arms around him, never wanting to let him go. He tilted up her head, and his fingers skimmed over her mouth. Slowly, he closed the distance between them. Her heart increased its pace to the point that he could feel its rhythm, as if his own still heart had been awakened back to life. His lips glided over Bella's, basking in their softness. She searched for his mouth, hungry for kisses that had been denied to her for too long. Their contact was tentative, as if their bodies had to recognize each other.

When their kiss ended, they didn't break their embrace. They stared out of the window as the sky began to darken, signaling that the day was fading away. "It's time for me to go," Bella reluctantly said.

"May I drive you back home?" Edward asked.

She looked up at him in confusion. "How would you?"

He smirked at her, happy as he hadn't been in months, luxuriating in the emotion. "I still remember how to drive your truck." He toyed with a strand of her hair. "I can drive you to Forks and leave you in the outskirts. I would feel better knowing that you aren't alone on the road."

"For your information, I drove here alone just fine."

His smile broadened. "I have to give credit to your truck," he joked. "But are you sure you were alone?"

Bella frowned at him in confusion.

Edward glanced at her mischievously. "I could have never let a flat tire or any other accident put you in danger or detain you," he told her softly.

"You followed me?" she asked in disbelief.

"Let's say I checked on you now and then during the journey," he admitted.

"Are you going to stay in the shadows, checking on me from afar?"

Edward didn't need to read Bella's mind to know how the consequences of her lie were saddening her. "We'll find a way." He reached for his pocket and retrieved a cell phone. "I have something for you," he told her, giving her the phone. "My number is already set in it, and you can call me whenever you want. There's a place I'd like to show you in a few days."

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>

The bookstore in Seattle – _Inner Chapters _– is real.

The book Bella purchases is _Time was Soft There: A Paris Sojourn at Shakespeare & Co._, by Jeremy Mercer. I found it thanks to a recommendation by _Inner Chapters_ staff (on the bookshop's website).

**_Thank you!_ **to my wonderful friends **Camilla10**, **Miaokuancha**, **Marlena580**, and **Jmolly**.

Ethelouise, I couldn't reply to your review because your PMs are disabled. Please drop me a line.

The next chapter of _A Good Liar_ is due to be posted in two weeks, while _An Italian Winter_ is due to be updated next Friday.

I'm on Twitter (**RaumTweet**).

_A Good Liar_'s extras are posted on: **h.t.t.p : ****/ ****/ ****myreadinglounge. ****blogspot. ****com/**


	5. Welcome Home

**Raum**

_**A Good Liar**_

****Disclaimer**: **I don't own _Twilight_. But you already knew it._**  
><strong>_

Please note that if your review is anonymous, I can't reply to it.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: "Welcome Home"<strong>

* * *

><p>A wide smile appeared on Bella's face as she read the text she had just received on her phone. <em>Saturday at 10, crossroad between 101 and 113. Sounds good?<em>

No signature – no need for it, as with the other texts Edward had sent her over the last few days.

_I'll be there,_ she rushed to answer.

Within a few seconds, the cell phone chirped again with a new message. This time it contained the picture of a deep blue sedan. Another Volvo? _Jake would know_... _right down to the model and year. _She quickly dismissed the thought.

The school bell signaled that lunch break was over. Unusually mild weather had allowed Bella to stay outside reading, but it was time to get back to class.

Angela and Ben waved to her on their way toward gym. Bella remembered the months when she had walked with Edward along those same corridors. For once, the memories didn't make her sad. That past was lost, but Edward wasn't. _We will figure it out_, he had reassured her – _we_ being the operative word.

According to his schedule, Charlie was going to be at the police station by the time she would go to her meeting with Edward. At least she didn't have to lie to her father again. But avoiding the questions occupying her mind wasn't as easy as avoiding Charlie.

On Saturday morning, as she headed toward the meeting point and the road seemed endlessly long, she knew she hadn't yet found the certainties she was looking for. _Where am I going? _she kept asking herself, not referring to the road.

In a small parking lot on the left, where the 101 met the 113, there was only one car – the one Bella had seen on her phone. But there was a significant difference from the picture: Edward was standing beside the car. He greeted her with the lopsided smile she had missed most during their time apart; before she could finish parking her truck, he had already opened her door and enclosed her in his arms. Her heart was going so fast that it had enough beats to make up for Edward's as well.

His eyes shone in excitement as he led her toward his car. "Ready to go?"

Bella wished she had a photographic memory – just to remember Edward the way he looked in that moment. It wasn't just the perfection of his features, or even the way his unruly hair strayed over his forehead – its hue reminding her of the desert afternoons around Phoenix. It was his eyes that held her spellbound. In their intensity she thought she could see the boy he had been almost a century ago – a brilliant young man eager to dive into what life would offer him.

He opened the car door for her and in a blur moved to her side. Then he started the engine.

"New car?" she observed, relaxing in the leather seat.

He pushed on the accelerator, speeding on the 113. "A belated Christmas gift from my family. Rose picked the model, while I chose the color."

"Deep blue?" None of the cars Edward used to drive in Forks had been that color. But after all, what did she know about all the cars he had owned through nine decades?

He glanced at her. "It reminded me of the dress you wore for the prom."

"You chose a car because of a dress I wore?" she blurted.

His eyes stayed focused on the road. "I'm partial to that color with your skin," he admitted, his voice almost shy.

Bella felt her cheeks warming up but couldn't allow herself to believe his compliment. On the day he had left, he had told her something much different. "I thought you wanted to be distracted, not to–" She stopped herself as Edward tightened his grip on the steering wheel, shaking his head.

"No," he stated.

She glanced at him sidelong. It seemed he was struggling to find the right words, and it wasn't typical of him.

"I wish you could read my mind," he went on. "There wasn't any distraction. But if you don't believe my words – and you have every reason not to – I'll do whatever it takes to convince you." He reached for her hand and caressed it. They remained silent until he pointed to a road sign. _Neah Bay_. "We're almost there," he announced.

_There's a place I'd like to show you in a few days_, she recalled he had told her in Seattle.

The thick woods on both sides of the road thinned out, until the sea came into view.

Edward drove more slowly, giving Bella some time to look at the landscape. The coast was high, with the sheerest cliffs she had ever seen. She leaned against the car window and took a sharp breath as she realized how close the car was to the road's edge. Gusts of wind were making the waves crash against the cliffs. With every blow on the sharp rocks, the wave was shattered into a sprinkling cloud of drops. The howl of the wind made Bella want to scoot closer to Edward; compared to nature's forces fighting in front of them, she felt small and insignificant. But in Edward's arms, she would have felt safe.

A broad smile lit up his face as he saw how the panorama had fascinated her, making her blind to anything else. "I gather you like it?" he asked in a playful tone.

"I love it," she confirmed, still captured by the view.

_I love __**you**__,_ he thought, not daring to say the words out loud. Many times, in the months when he had put thousands of miles between Bella and himself, he had longed to be as close as they were in this moment, with the opportunity to tell her how much he loved her. But he realized there was something he desired even more: he wanted her to believe his words and trust him.

Edward left the main road and turned on a minor lane. Before Bella could voice her question, he pointed to a wooded area. Among the trees, they spotted the dark gray roof of a cottage, almost at the top of a cliff; it was a white wooden cottage, circled by rocks and a sheer drop to the sea. He parked the car close to the little building.

Her eyes widened as she saw him retrieving a key from his pocket and opening the door.

"May I give you a tour?" he offered.

They entered, and Bella looked around the small living room. In the square space there were just a few pieces of furniture: a blue couch, with a coffee table in front of it; a square table, made of knotty pine wood; a couple of matching chairs; a long sideboard. The ceilings were high, and the space had been divided with a mezzanine, where she supposed there was a bedroom. The wooden facing of the walls made the room cozy and warm, and the trusses with exposed beams gave it a rustic atmosphere.

Edward led her across the living room and opened the French window that overlooked the sea. The salty scent of the ocean enveloped them. Bella pulled up the zipper of her jacket and stepped onto the wide porch.

She pointed to a high cliff that towered over the other ones. "Look over there," she exclaimed. "I bet guys don't go jumping off _that_." She brought a hand to her mouth, realizing her faux pas, but it was too late. Her words had piqued Edward's curiosity.

"Guys jumping off a cliff?" he asked. "What are you talking about?"

The thought that she could change the topic crossed her mind but didn't last long, since she didn't want to hide anything from him. "In the last few weeks I spent some time at La Push, and Jake showed me a bunch of guys going cliff diving at the reservation."

"Jacob Black?" Edward seethed. "I don't like the idea of you hanging with the Quileutes."

"Because they consider you an enemy?"

"Because they're dangerous," he retorted.

"Jake and I have known each other since we were kids," Bella pointed out defensively. "He helped me hold myself together. If it hadn't been for his friendship..." she added quietly.

Edward wondered if she was struggling with her words because she was trying not to hurt him. But he was sure he didn't deserve to have his feelings spared after the sorrow he had caused her. "He was there for you when I wasn't," he acknowledged.

"Are you angry? I shouldn't have mentioned it."

"That isn't the point," he rushed to clarify. "It was my fault, not his. I appreciate that you told me about it. I hope we won't keep things from each other just because we're afraid that they might be upsetting."

"I promise I won't."

"I promise, too," he affirmed, sealing his words with a lingering kiss on her lips. He held her close to his chest, basking in the silence that was surrounding them.

"So, are you going to tell me what brought us here?" she asked.

He smirked at her. "Welcome home."

"Home?"

He nodded. "I thought talking would be more comfortable here than in a public place. I want you to know I'm really back, if you want me. I won't leave you. Not again."

She gaped at him. "And so you bought a house?"

He let out a small chuckle. "Actually, I only rented it. I was going to show it to you first." He motioned around himself. "But I can buy it, if you like it. We would be able to meet here whenever you want."

"You know I want you back more than anything else," she told him, but the uncertainty in her voice didn't go unnoticed.

He closed his arms around her. "But there's a _but_, isn't there?"

She sighed. "When you left, you said that you were tired of pretending to be something you weren't, because you aren't human." She tightened her embrace around him, aware that the memory was no less painful for him than for herself. But she had to go on and ask, "Was that a lie, too?"

Edward felt lost, and for a moment the limit between truth and lies blurred even in his memories. Had he lied about this as well? He didn't have a straight answer but wanted to open up and share his thoughts, not only for Bella but also for his own benefit.

"Come here," he told her softly, moving toward the couch and pulling Bella into his lap. Eyes closed, he brushed her hair, until he calmed down enough to allow himself to recall what his existence had been so far. "After my change, for years I struggled with what I had become. At a certain point, I was so tired of pretending to be what I wasn't that I followed my predatory instincts. You already know how that choice didn't bring me any relief or peace. I spent decades with my family after that time – mingling with humans – and sometimes the temptation to give up and renounce the masquerade was strong. Would I have run in some wilderness and lost myself in it, or, God forbid, would I have given free rein to my instincts? I hope not, but I don't know. Then I met you."

He sought out her gaze and remembered what he had felt the first time he had seen her. "When I left, Bella, and I told you that it was because I was tired of pretending, I was lying. But at the same time I was revealing something about myself I hadn't had the guts to admit so far. When our paths crossed, you took away any shreds of humanity I'd managed to cloak myself in. I was a predator and you were my prey, and there was nothing else in the whole world but that truth. But you, the same person who made me risk destroying my human façade, you are the one who resurrected the human instincts I'd thought were lost. You made me discover my humanity, and the man I was behind the façade. A man who didn't have to pretend."

Bella's eyes glistened with unshed tears as she sensed the sincerity he was putting into his words. "I'd like to know him better," she whispered, caressing his cheek with a light touch. Behind the marble, icy texture of his skin, she saw someone who had struggled for almost a century to find his way between two kinds of being.

"Sometimes I wonder if even _I_ know him," he confessed. "I'm aware of the way people see me – of the way I _make_ them see me. I pose as a college student for some years, and then, in another city, I'm attending high school again. It's the same for the rest of my family, to the point that even our relationships are prone to change. I can pretend to be Esme's or Carlisle's younger brother. Sometimes it's just overwhelming, while on other occasions it becomes maddening."

"How do you cope, then?"

"Carlisle has always helped me, and I have my family. Do you remember what I told you when you first came to my house?" He smiled, recalling the myths and her fears. "When you were expecting coffins and cobwebs?"

She nodded. "You said it was the only place where you never had to hide."

"Exactly. In that moment, I had everything. A family and a home." He cupped her face in his hands. "And more than that, I was with the person who was best able to see through my pretenses. Being with you was like being in front of a mirror. I got to understand more about myself in a few months with you than in over a century without." He averted his eyes and distanced himself from her. "No wonder that when I lied to you, nothing else made sense anymore," he muttered. "I just wandered. It didn't take long before every moment with my family became unbearable. I lost myself, too."

Every day in the last months she had thought about where he was and what he was doing. But she had never considered that he could be as broken as she was. In her eyes, Edward was the stronger of the two of them – the one who would move on, since he didn't need her. He was the one who had left. She realized now, that behind his lies, he had hidden not only his love for her but also his pain. _Don't hide anymore_, she silently pleaded. The tears she had kept at bay so far brimmed over her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to her. "I never wanted to make you cry."

"It's okay. Thank you for sharing these memories with me."

"There isn't anything I wouldn't share with you. But at the same time there isn't anything I wouldn't do to keep you from suffering."

She looked up at him, her eyes wide. A pang of fear hit her. "Even if it means lying to me?" she asked. "Or leaving again?"

"No," he reassured her. "Not anymore." His gaze softened. "Will you trust me on this?"

"I'm afraid to hope," she confessed. "I have a thousand questions piling up in my mind."

He lightly tapped her temple. "I'm sorry, but I can't be of any help with your silent mind." He smiled at her in encouragement. "Would you share your thoughts, perhaps?"

"Sometimes I make plans...or better, they're just daydreams." She paused, and the soft blush on her cheeks made him even more curious to know what those _dreams_ were about. "I imagine that we could move to another state where nobody knows you or me, go to the college together, and start over."

His smile widened. "This is a good idea." He had considered that plan and was pleased that she seemed to be on the same page. "And then, what do you think about?"

"I think about time," she mumbled, her voice suddenly cold. "What would happen after college?"

Edward stilled. How many times had he seen his schoolmates becoming adults? He hadn't had any human friend – another human experience that was denied to him – but he'd listened to their thoughts. They could dream about a family, children, a career. They could hope. He brushed Bella's cheek with his lips, feeling how her skin reacted to his touch, and wished she would succeed in all the dreams she had. "If you outgrew me – if you wanted something more – I would understand that, Bella." He was hesitant but went on. "I promise I wouldn't stand in your way if you wanted to leave me."

"I don't want to leave you!" she almost yelled.

He marveled hearing how fast her heart began to beat.

"What I feel for you hasn't changed. Can't you believe that?" she urged. "Can't you trust me on this?"

"Of course I believe you," he confirmed. "I don't deserve it, but I'm not going to fight against it anymore. When I took your choices away from you, it only hurt both of us."

"So you know that I've already made my choice. _You_ are my choice, Edward."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

When the afternoon had passed and they had to leave the cottage, Bella let out a wistful sigh, feeling as if she were actually leaving a place where she could be at home.

"We can come back whenever you want," Edward told her softly, aware of her longing.

"Are you staying here tonight?" She imagined him on the porch, looking at the horizon in the darkness, maybe recalling all the times he'd been sitting by the sea. How many views had he admired before she was even born? What were his desires?

He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I'll go for a hunt, or I'll play the piano."

"The piano? Where will you go to play?"

"Where do you think I should go?" he asked with a mischievous grin.

She gaped at him. "Have you gone back to your house in Forks?"

"Not yet." The smile faded from his face. "As I told you, I wanted to give you some time and space to think. If I had stayed in Forks, I wouldn't have been strong enough to keep my distance, and I didn't want to put pressure on you."

She recalled the nights she had spent sleeping in his arms. Since he had come back, she had left her window open at night, like a silent invitation. She pondered talking about it with him, but she stopped herself. _One step at a time_, she reminded herself. The words of _The Little Prince_ came back to her. _First you will sit down at a little distance from me. _The delicate process of taming her lion again, and being tamed by him as well, couldn't be rushed.

"But now, would you consider coming back?" she asked.

"Definitely."

Bella's eyes shone in excitement at the idea of having Edward so close. They could be together every free moment she had...

But her enthusiasm lessened as she imagined him in his old house, without his family. What could she offer him? Long days waiting for the moment when she would go and visit him? She voiced her concerns. "What would you do all day?"

He let out a soft laugh. "Believe me, in ninety years I've found some good ways to spend my time. I don't mind waiting, as long as I get to see you."

"Is the Cullen house ghost going to show, tomorrow?" she teased him.

"Only one way to find out," he teased back. "Come and see."

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>

* * *

><p>I'll be traveling over the next weeks, but I'll do my best to reply to your comments. Why don't you tell me where are you writing from?<p>

**_Thank you!_ **to my wonderful friends **Camilla10**, **Miaokuancha**, **Marlena580**, and **Jmolly**.

Ethelouise, I couldn't reply to your review because your PMs are disabled. Please drop me a line.

The next chapter of _A Good Liar_ is due to be posted in two weeks, while _An Italian Winter_ is due to be updated (and completed) on the next weekend.

I'm on Twitter (**RaumTweet**).

_A Good Liar_'s extras are posted on: **h.t.t.p : ****/ ****/ ****myreadinglounge. ****blogspot. ****com/**


	6. This Death that Accompanies Us

**Raum**

_**A Good Liar**_

****The story blinkie is now available on **h.t.t.p : ****/ ****/ ****myreadinglounge. ****blogspot. ****com/**  
><strong>**

****Disclaimer**: **I don't own _Twilight_. But you already knew it._**  
><strong>_

Please note that if your review is anonymous, I can't reply to it.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6: "This Death that Accompanies Us"<strong>

* * *

><p><em>This death that accompanies us<em>

_From morning till night, sleepless,_

_Deaf, like an old regret._

(Cesare Pavese, _Death Will Come With Your Eyes_)

* * *

><p>Bella was already on her porch when the telephone rang; she rushed back inside to answer it.<p>

Her father was on the other end of the line. "Hey, Bells. Were you running?" Charlie teased her, hearing that she was short of breath.

She snorted. "It's just that I was leaving and had to dash back."

"Are you going to La Push?"

She stiffened. "No." She had avoided going to the reservation since the last time she had talked to Jake, fearing that she wouldn't be welcome there anymore. "Why do you ask?"

"I've talked to Billy, and he told me it looks like Jake caught mono. Poor kid is real tired, and Billy said no visitors."

"No visitors?" she asked in disbelief.

"Nope. He's got a high fever, and it's catching. But don't worry too much. Jake'll be up and around soon enough. Be patient."

Bella wanted to ask if there was anything she could do for her friend, but thought better of it. "Are you coming home for dinner?"

"I hope so, but it's a busy day here. I'll keep you posted."

Bella hung up the phone and hurried to the grocery store. The less time she spent there, the more she would have for her detour. As quickly as she could, she put the filled bags in the truck and headed toward the Cullen house.

It had been barely two weeks since Edward had taken her to Neah Bay. Less than a month since the first time he had come back to her room, when she hadn't seen him. Yet, the girl who smiled as she left the main road and headed toward the Cullens' residence didn't resemble the broken one who had gone there chasing after a lost past.

Bella had always found Edward waiting for her out on the lawn. This time, the clearing where the house stood was empty. She got out of the truck and went to knock on the door.

"GOTCHA!"

She jumped. She spun around and found herself in Edward's arms. In a blur, he opened the door and carried her inside. Only when they reached his room did he put her down.

"You stupid vampire!" she yelled, raising a hand to slap him.

He laughed and took her by the wrists, stopping her attempts to wriggle her way out of his hold. "Oh, no, I can't release you," he crooned. "You'll hurt yourself if you hit me." He pinned her against the door and lowered his face to hers.

She glared at him, but his playfulness was already making her anger fade.

"Forgive me?" he pleaded. His lips brushed over hers, his cool breath sending shivers down her back.

"Don't do...it...again," Bella mumbled, her words interrupted by the small pecks he placed on her mouth.

"You mean I mustn't kiss you anymore?" Edward joked. "I thought you liked my kisses."

"You can be dumb for being a supernatural creature," she retorted, seeking his lips as he straightened his back and distanced his face from her. "I was referring to your prank."

He skimmed his nose along her neck, peppering it with a new trail of kisses. His hold around her wrists loosened, but when her arms were free again, she didn't slap him. She moved her hands around his waist, drawing him closer to herself.

"I'm glad you came," he whispered. "How long can you stay?"

She sighed. "Not long. I'm on my way back from the grocery and have to prepare dinner. But will you come to my room tonight?"

He grinned. "You know I will."

Bella left Edward's embrace and opened her backpack. "There's something I'd like to give you before I go."

"Have you bought me a mountain lion at the grocery?"

"Sorry, they're fresh out," she joked, relieved that he didn't seem so self-conscious about his nature anymore. She cupped his cheek, tracing the contours of the dark shadows under his eyes. "By the way, it seems you could use a hunt."

"You're right. I'll go immediately after you leave, so I'll be well-fed by the time I come to your place." He playfully ruffled her hair. "But if you haven't brought me a snack, what is it?"

She rummaged through her backpack and had to empty half of its contents onto Edward's desk before she could find the little gift she had bought for him.

"Here." She offered him a simple, rectangular workbook with a dark cover. The sheets were already set with the stave to write music. "I went to Port Angeles to find a birthday present for Angela and passed by a music shop."

He flipped through the blank pages. Memories from his human years, when he needed his music sheets to record his first attempts at composition, resurfaced. He recalled the day his piano teacher had taught him how to write musical notes – Edward had been fascinated by them. They were only small marks on paper, and yet they could make a melody come to life.

Bella tried to read his reaction to her gift. "I know you don't need it to remember your songs," she told him softly. "But would you write down the notes of my lullaby?"

Edward smiled at her. "Of course I will. Thank you for this. I'll begin to fill it immediately and tonight I'll bring it to you with all the notes in their right places."

Bella hugged him tightly, ready to take her leave. "Enjoy your hunt. I'll see you tonight." She quickly put her belongings back and left. When she drove away, he saw him waving at her from the window of the piano room.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It was almost twilight when Bella parked in front of her house. She looked toward the woods behind it, where the shadows had already swallowed the dim afternoon light. _The safest time of day for us_, Edward had said. _The end of another day, the return of the night_. When he had spoken those words – was it really only a year ago? – Bella had felt saddened. He had only just begun to allow her into his acquaintance at that time and hadn't revealed yet that he spent his nights in her room. She had felt strangely hurt that he so welcomed the time of day which was for her the loneliest. After he had deserted her in the woods, those same words, and that same feeling, had haunted her every night.

But now, all of that had changed. Edward had returned to Forks. And recently, he had returned to visiting her at night as well. Now she welcomed the twilight just as much as he did.

A movement in the woods and a rustling sound among the leaves caught her attention. She got out of the truck and went toward the trees. It could have been an animal, but for a moment she had thought she had seen a man. Could Edward have changed his plans? She took her phone out from her pocket and checked it – he hadn't called.

"Edward," she whispered.

Bella looked around herself. There was no one on the road, but if it was actually Edward, he couldn't step out of the woods and risk being seen by her neighbors. So she kept walking. "Edward," she called again. "Is it you?"

"Bella?"

Her name was uttered by a voice that had a deep musical tone – the one she had heard only from vampires – but it wasn't Edward's. The person in front of her took a step forward, emerging from the shadows, and motioned to Bella to come closer.

"Laurent!"

She felt as if a gust of cold wind had chilled her, recalling that the vampire who was inviting her had belonged to James' coven when she had first met him. She tried to steady herself, considering that Laurent had changed and gone to Alaska to live with other vampires who refrained from harming humans.

Bella studied his face and didn't register any menace in his expression. "I thought you'd gone to Alaska. What brought you back?"

Laurent smiled, and then she met his eyes. She blinked, but what she had seen was real. Two scarlet pools glistened. "I'm doing a favor for a friend," he purred.

She tried to swallow, to no avail. Her feet started to ease back, but she froze when his eyes flickered down to catch the movement. "A friend?" she croaked. Was the _friend_ one of the Alaskan vampires? What could they possibly want Laurent to do in Forks for them?

"You know her," he answered, his tone kind. "Victoria."

Bella's head spun. For a moment, all she could see was a black vortex. She realized she was fainting, but the expected fall didn't happen. He had caught her. She saw the tree branches moving around her as Laurent drew her into the woods.

"Laurent," she managed to splutter. "What are you doing? What does Victoria have to do with this?"

He released her from his grasp and looked down at her. People, the passing cars, the sound of neighbors' children playing – they all had vanished, since he had brought her to a clearing where he couldn't be heard or seen by humans.

"Victoria is sort of put out with you, Bella," he explained regretfully, as if he were talking to a child. "James was her mate, and your Edward killed him. A mate for a mate, that's what she wants. I've been sent here to get the lay of the land for her, so to speak."

Bella looked around herself frantically. "Where is she? Will she kill me?"

Laurent laughed softly. "No, I can assure you she won't."

Bella's cell phone began to vibrate in her pocket. _Edward. Please, Edward, come here,_ she thought. The words she had told him less than an hour ago haunted her. _It seems you could use a hunt_.

Laurent narrowed his eyes at her when she moved to pick up the call. "Are we going to be interrupted?" he asked.

She halted, trying not to annoy him. "Edward is due to arrive," she lied, pushing all her bravado into those words.

He gave her a mischievous grin. "Is he? So I have to be quick." The vampire closed his eyes, and his nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply. "Mouthwatering," he whispered.

She stumbled back a step. "Haven't you stopped preying on humans?" she cried.

He smirked at her, a conspiratorial glance in his maroon irises. "I must admit that sometimes I cheat."

"Please," she gasped. "Don't do this."

"Oh, Bella," he sighed. "This is nothing personal, let me assure you. Just thirst. I promise I'll be very quick, and you won't feel a thing."

She cringed away. The memories of the unending pain that James' bite had caused when he had attacked her brought Bella to her knees. She shut her eyes, bracing herself for the moment when the monster would leap on her.

The moment didn't come.

A furious roar echoed in the woods, making them whip their heads in its direction. They froze as they saw a huge dark shape appearing from among the bushes.

It resembled a bear, but when it approached it became clear that they were facing a giant wolf.

Bella remained as still as she could, but her eyes darted from the beast to Laurent. The wolf headed toward the vampire, as if it hadn't noticed the weak human who would have been much easier to chase. Laurent crouched, ready to strike, his fingers curled into anxious claws. His human façade wasn't in place anymore: both he and the animal were ferocious predators in front of their quarry. As the wolf grimaced, revealing a line of dagger-like incisors, a snarl rolled out from between Laurent's teeth, the stone of his face molding into a sneer.

With a sudden bolt, the wolf descended on the vampire, throwing him to the ground, and ripping his clothes. The beast's fangs screeched against his granite skin, tearing deep and frightening gouges that bled a silvery glistening fluid all down his arm.

A sweet scent spread from the wounds. Like incense waves, it was heady at first and then became too strong.

In front of Bella's eyes, the long gash the animal's teeth had opened on the vampire began to fade, even as Laurent screamed and writhed and brought his knees up, searching for leverage against the giant frame of his foe.

Finally with a powerful kick to the wolf's chest he got to his feet again.

Laurent bared his sharp teeth, with his mouth open as if he were going to scream, and launched himself at his enemy.

Bella backed off as the vampire grabbed his attacker's shoulder and pulled until the bone crunched. The wolf lunged at Laurent's side and tore again with a hideous screech. Another heavy fist landed on the beast and flung it against a bush. A cloud of mold and fallen leaves surrounded the animal as it landed on the ground, making the bush's tiny branches splinter under his weight.

Laurent roared and took another swipe at his enemy. His fist caught the wolf's flank, and he pummeled it until a low yelp coughed out of the animal's throat.

The wolf's desperate plea shook Bella. She bowed her head and covered her eyes, not wanting to witness the animal's destruction. The same fate would befall her as well. Unless...she felt unsure on her legs, but she had to try to escape. She began to run, scrambling on her feet, but a protruding root made her stumble and fall.

A furious howl boomed. Bella looked up and saw a man sprinting toward Laurent. His speed revealed that he was a vampire, too.

"Edward," she murmured gratefully, her shoulders sagging in relief. Her lover's muscular arm hooked Laurent's neck and tugged, managing to take him off the wolf and lifting his feet from the ground. With a desperate blow, Laurent jerked his head back into Edward's jaw, thrashing in his grip until the two of them crashed into a tree with a force that snapped the trunk.

Before Edward could stand up again, Laurent whirled around. Bella couldn't see more than a blur as they twisted and struggled, sending wrecked branches flying. A metallic snap made her shiver; steel kept grinding against steel, like an endless car crash.

All of a sudden, the movement stopped. Edward's fingers were clutching Laurent's hair. Bella looked into her attacker's red eyes, widened in shock; his face was contorted in a scream, but no sound came out from his mouth. As if in slow-motion, her gaze reached Laurent's neck, where Edward's iron fingers had latched on and his teeth had bitten. And then there was nothing more to see: Laurent's head had been cut off from his body, which lay on the ground.

For a moment, everything went still.

A low whimper escaped through the wolf's teeth, but the animal didn't move.

Only when Edward's eyes met hers did Bella let out the breath she had been holding, and with it, a strangled sob. Edward dropped Laurent's head and took a slow, heavy step toward her, but he stopped in his tracks and turned toward the woods.

Another wolf was stalking toward him. The beast was as big as the one which was still on the ground, but had black fur, while the other's was russet.

"I mean no harm," Edward told the animal, as if it could understand his words. He tilted his head toward the wounded wolf. "He's still alive, but he needs help. Take care of him."

Edward took a step back, going toward Bella, but still shielding her with his body.

"Be quick and burn him to ashes," he instructed, pointing to the scattered remains of Laurent.

Two more wolves came out from the undergrowth.

Bella caught only a glimpse of them before they dragged away what remained of the vampire who had attacked her. Before she could take another breath, Edward scooped her up in his arms, his embrace tighter than it had ever been – to the point that it was almost painful. Regardless, she welcomed his steely hold. Silently, he cradled her against his chest and rushed toward her house.

"Charlie...at home," she stammered.

"He's not here yet. I can't catch his thoughts."

Edward set her on a chair in the kitchen and knelt in front of her, reaching up with both hands to cup her cheeks. His cold touch made Bella regain some consciousness; in the anxious mirror of his darkened eyes, she saw herself, still bewildered-looking, her mouth slightly open and her eyes unfocused.

"Can I fetch you something to drink?" he offered quietly.

Bella shook her head. "I need to call Charlie," she said, her voice flat. "He was supposed to be home for dinner."

Edward took her hand in his. "Do you want me to go while you–"

"No," she interrupted him. "Stay."

She made the conversation as short as she could. Charlie apologized for not having called earlier and informed her that he would stay at the station until late in the night. Bella suppressed a sob as she registered his words: _Don't worry about dinner. Are you tired? Don't study too much, and get a good night's rest. _She blessed the umpteenth contingency that had kept her father at work, safe from a danger he would never be aware of.

As soon as the call ended, Edward's arms went around her again, his fingers brushing through her hair with soothing caresses.

"How did you...?" she murmured.

He understood her question with no need for her to explain further. "You left a book on my desk. Since it was a textbook, I called you to ask if you needed it immediately for your homework, but you didn't pick up." He barked a bitter laugh, still processing what had happened. "You had a much bigger danger to be worried about than completing your homework, didn't you?"

"May we go upstairs?" she asked, the toll of the day weighing on her.

Her room provided them with a cozy refuge. They sat on her bed, and she glanced at her belongings. On her desk, there was the novel she had bought in Seattle, with the first gift Edward had given her when he had come back. A Space Needle bookmark. For anybody else, it wasn't but a little souvenir Bella could have purchased on her trip. But she kept it close to her all day, when she was at school or studying at home. It was a memento that he was back – a pledge of what he had promised her when they met in Seattle.

A shiver of fear shot through her at the thought that she had come so close to never coming back home again, her corpse discarded somewhere in the woods. She imagined Charlie's pain, knowing that his girl was missing again, maybe blaming himself for not leaving work sooner.

Bella raised her eyes and took in Edward's features. If he had arrived too late, nothing – his rage, his sorrow, his revenge – would have given her back to him. As if he had read her thoughts, he gathered her in his arms. He buried his head in the crook of her neck and placed his mouth on her skin. Her pulse was beating against his lips, and he let it echo in his body.

Bella gasped as suddenly Edward clutched her shoulders and kept her caged in his grip. He was frozen, his lips still resting against her neck. She trembled as she realized that he had stopped breathing, and knew what it meant. Her heart beat faster and faster, pumping her blood toward his mouth.

"Edward," she said as softly as she could, blaming herself for the tremor in her voice. "I trust you," she went on. _He would never hurt me_, she silently repeated to herself.

Abruptly, Edward flew to the farthest corner of the room.

She reached out a trembling arm toward him but halted as she recognized his expression. She had seen those eyes, black like onyx and yet somehow aflame. That hard grimace on his face wasn't new to her. It was the same grimace he had on his face on the first day they had met – the day when he wanted to kill her.

"I can't stay," he spat.

"NO!" she yelled. The violence of her scream made her throat ache, but she didn't relent. She stumbled toward him, not caring if, with her sudden fierceness, she was risking pushing him to a point where he wouldn't be able to control his thirst anymore. Edward didn't move from his corner or stop Bella when she went on in her outburst.

"Why?" she cried out. "Did what happened with Laurent remind you of what happened with Jasper? Do you want to run away again?" Her eyes brimmed with angry tears at the thought that he could consider making the same mistake again. "If you leave now, do it for good, Edward! Or is it your thirst? You never hurt me because of it, and I still believe you never will! But if it's the reason you want to leave, then don't resist." She shoved her wrists in his face. He turned sideways and clenched his teeth. "Drink my blood and take my life. If you break me again, you will destroy me anyway. I don't care."

"Enough!" he growled. "I must go, because if I stay I don't know if I can resist biting you!"

Bella shuddered at his confession, but didn't back off.

"It's not thirst, nor has it anything to do with Laurent or Jasper," he added, his voice less furious but still angered. "It's just my selfishness," he seethed.

He bored his eyes into her and she read the hatred in them. But it wasn't directed at her.

"Since I came back, you haven't asked me anything about you being changed into a vampire," he recalled. "I hoped you had understood, after all, that giving up your human life because of _me_ would be something to regret forever. And yet, I thought that if you still wanted it, I would be up to discussing it with you instead of making every decision for you. But today I was too afraid that I would lose you." He choked back a sob at the memory. Head bowed, he pointed to the bed, where he had broken their embrace. "I was ready to bite you to make you like me. I want you with me, and a human life isn't enough."

"I want you, too," she managed to whisper, stunned by his words.

Edward cringed. "How could I give you such pain?" he murmured. "You would die the same way I did in Chicago almost ninety years ago, and I'd hate myself for torturing you that way."

Bella tried to not think about the agony of the transformation and pushed as much braveness as she could in her words. "But it'd be only for a short while," she objected. "Only for the three days of fire during the change."

He shook his head. "There's more."

She frowned at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

He took a deep breath, his mind going back to a faraway city in a distant time. "A couple of years after my transformation, I asked Carlisle to go back to Chicago. Obviously, we couldn't go out in public, so we went there for just a few hours at night. The first stop was at the house of one of my best friends. The last time I'd heard about him, he'd been infected by the Spanish influenza. I searched for his mind frantically, eager to know if he was healed and was back home, until I caught his thoughts and listened to him talking with his mother. I begged Carlisle to check on other people I knew. Some of them had died, but others were fine after the epidemic. I'm afraid that without Carlisle's help I wouldn't have resisted the desire to knock on their doors, to tell them that I was back, too." He grimaced at the memory. "I would have only scared them to death – or worse, I could have been their death," he mumbled.

Bella imagined Edward as he must have looked, terrible and glorious as a young god resurfacing from the underworld.

In a human gesture, he passed his hand over his face as he recalled the moment he had said farewell to his human life. "On the contrary, when we arrived at my house, I asked Carlisle to leave as quickly as we could. It was my home, but I couldn't live there anymore. Everything I had, every person I knew, was lost to me. My parents were dead, but what about yours, Bella? What about your friends or your plans? My body died during my change, but the person I'd been died that night, in front of the empty Masen residence. I had become a ghost. Is that what you want for yourself?"

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>

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><p>A question for you: who's the wolf?<p>

The next chapter is due to be posted in two weeks. _An Italian Winter_ is now complete!

**_Thank you!_ **to my wonderful friends **Camilla10**, **Miaokuancha**, **Marlena580**, and **Jmolly**.

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	7. Endangered

**Raum**

_**A Good Liar**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 7: "Endangered"<strong>

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><p>Edward jumped from Bella's window and sprinted away. Only after covering several miles in the forest did he allow himself to stop and let out a desperate growl. What he had seen in Laurent's mind continued to haunt him. The fire had destroyed the vampire who had tried to steal Bella from him, but the memory of his last mental images wouldn't fade.<p>

Laurent's thirst for Bella's blood had saturated his thoughts so completely that they had infected Edward as well. While reading Laurent's mind, Edward had remembered; he felt as if knives were cutting through his throat, as if he were burning from the inside. His mind had gone back to the alleys where he had stalked his prey, and the scorching flames he had repressed for decades had been fanned again. This time, the call hadn't come from some criminal's blood but from his Bella. Then the thirst had been overwhelmed by hatred for the monster who, in a matter of seconds, could have destroyed all that he cherished in the world. _This is what my kind does_, Edward thought. _With every human we kill, we destroy all the people who lose a friend, a child, a lover because of our curse. _

The moment when he had almost bitten Bella to change her resurfaced in his mind. He knelt in a small clearing and pummeled a rock until it was reduced to a pile of debris.

"What did I almost do?" he roared.

An image of Bella lingered in his thoughts; even in his rage, he could still feel her tenderness and the warmth of her love as she had told him that he was her choice. He had confessed to her how much he had suffered when he realized that he had lost his human life for good, yet she was still willing to give up her life for him. He buried his face in his hands, tugging at his hair.

"What should I do?" he groaned.

When he finally resolved to hunt, he did it without any pleasure. Mechanically, he followed the ingrained routine: he gulped down the nourishment that a deer provided him, hid the carcass and went to wash himself. Only when he headed toward Bella's room did he dare to hope again that his existence had a purpose.

He slipped in and stopped in his tracks. Bella had understood that Edward couldn't delay feeding himself and had let him go, promising that she would wait up for him. Instead...a smile passed over Edward's face as he saw her sleeping form. She had fallen asleep half-seated on her bed, with a pillow clutched in her arms. Even in coping with the trauma they had been through only a few hours ago, their kinds were different. While he had poured his anger out, letting his instincts take the lead, his little human had surrendered to the emotions that the past day had forced on her. He tucked her in and went to sit in the rocking chair in the corner. Eyes closed, he listened to Bella's calm breaths; they lulled him into an illusion of slumber.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Sunday morning was heralded by thunder and driving rain. Bella stirred and pulled the blanket almost over her head; for once she slept in, unaware of Edward's presence in her room. Her lips stretched in a satisfied smile as she basked in the warmth of her bed while the rain kept tapping on the window.

But her peace was soon stolen. Edward could pinpoint the moment when she came into consciousness and recalled the previous day; he cringed as he saw anguish spreading on her face at the memory.

"Edward," she gasped.

He rushed to cradle her in his arms. "It's over," he reassured. "You're safe."

She looked toward the door, fearing that she could have awoken her father. "Is Charlie still home?"

"He just left. He was called into work, since a couple of colleagues at the station are sick." Edward caressed her forehead and smoothed the crease between her eyebrows. "What are you thinking?" he asked softly.

"There's something I'd like to ask you."

"Bella, you can ask me anything."

"The wolf," she began. He tensed, and she noticed it but went on. "You talked to it as if it were a human. And why did it attack Laurent and not me? Did you know what was going on?"

He averted his eyes from her and swallowed hard, but the words didn't come out; so he just nodded.

"Would you tell me?" she urged.

"It's not my story to tell." His tone was kind, but his expression had hardened. "I have to follow the rules," he mumbled under his breath.

"Rules and secrets," she huffed. "You sound like–" She pressed a hand to her lips, preventing Jacob's name from being uttered_. I'm not supposed to say anything about that_, Jake had told her on that day at the reservation when he had disclosed the truth about the Cold Ones. The entire conversation with him came back to her. Bella had always focused only on the part about the vampires, but now she remembered something else. "The wolf legends," she went on, her eyes wide.

Edward broke their embrace and clenched his fists. "So much for secrecy. Is there anything Black _hasn't_ spilled about the treaty?"

"At least he didn't keep things from me," she retorted.

He narrowed his eyes. "Didn't he? How long has it been since you last saw him?"

She pursed her lips in a tight line. "A while," she murmured. "We fought over...well, over my choices, and I didn't think I'd be welcome at the reservation anymore." She shrugged. "Last time I heard, he had mono."

"Mono?" he scoffed. "Is that what they're calling it now?"

Bella frowned. "What do you mean?"

He paced back and forth in the room.

"Come on, Edward," she pressed. "Are we still in a place where I can't be trusted with the truth?"

"I'm not the one who lied to you this time."

"So why aren't you talking to me?" she cried.

"Fine," he snapped. "The russet wolf you saw yesterday is Jacob Black. What he's got isn't mono, it's lycanthropy. Can you understand now why I didn't want you to hang out with the Quileutes?"

"That's absurd!" Bella tried to protest. "Jake said the werewolves were only myths."

Edward quirked an eyebrow at her. "Are we talking about creatures who aren't supposed to exist?" he mocked.

Bella froze. Laurent's kicks to Jacob's flank echoed in her mind, and the memory of the wounded wolf on the ground made her shudder. "Is he...?" She couldn't finish the question.

"He'll be fine," Edward rushed to reassure her. "He was in serious condition, but the wolves recover fast."

"Jake could have died saving me. It's my fault."

"No." Edward took her hand in his. "You don't have anything to feel guilty about."

For a while Bella was lost in her thoughts. "I have to go and talk with him."

"Can't you just give him a phone call?" Edward suggested.

"I've known him for years," she whispered, her voice hollow. "I opened up to him, and he kept this from me."

Edward sighed, understanding where her thoughts were leading her.

Bella swallowed hard, blinking back the angry tears threatening to spill out. "What else am I going to find out? First your lies, now Jake's. Who's the next one who won't trust me?"

He considered many things he could have told her, but thought better and just held her close to his chest.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

For the first time since he'd come back to Forks, Edward actually felt trapped. He wanted to escort Bella as far as the treaty allowed him, but it would have meant going out and about on a Sunday morning in a town where he was believed dead. Too risky. He couldn't do more than make Bella promise she would keep her phone switched on while she was at the reservation and that her visit would be short.

For the first time since she'd known the Blacks, Bella wasn't given a warm welcome at the door.

"Hi, Bella. I guess you came for Jake," Billy told her hastily, still on the doorstep. "But like I already told Charlie, he's got mono, and–"

"I wish it was mono," Bella countered. "I know about the wolf legends. Please don't pretend with me."

Taken aback by her words, Billy opened his mouth, but didn't speak.

"I didn't know the wolf who saved me was Jake, but I saw how hurt he was," Bella went on, her voice trembling. "I just want to visit him."

Billy's expression hardened as she recalled the circumstances which had almost cost his son his life. "He's going to be fine, but now he needs his rest. I'll tell him you came."

"Thank you," she muttered. She started walking toward her truck. _At least Edward will be pleased. That visit was definitely short_.

Billy called her back. "I'm sorry I've been rude," he apologized. "But I've gone through a lot lately. I spoke with the Elders, and we're all astonished by what that Cullen boy did in the woods. I could have never imagined that one of...them would fight against his own kind to protect a human."

"The Cullens respect the treaty and would never hurt a human," Bella assured. "Edward fought for Jake, too. He saved your son's life."

Billy looked at her in disbelief as she defended the Cullens. "Edward?" he murmured. "At first, when Sam told me that he was alive and back, I almost didn't believe him."

At the mention of Sam, Bella remembered the black wolf who had come out to help Jake; he seemed to be a leader for the other wolves she had spotted in the forest.

"Does Charlie know about this?" Billy went on, angered that his best friend's daughter had chosen one of those bloodsuckers.

Bella flushed at his question. "No, Billy, please. Don't say anything to Charlie."

"Even if I wanted to, I can't talk to him about it. The treaty is still in place, and given what Cullen did, the pack will stay away from him. But as long as the Cold Ones are here, more of our boys will turn into wolves." Billy cringed. He had hoped that Jake wouldn't experience the curse of his wolf heritage and could have a peaceful life, but his hopes had been crushed. "The Elders decided that all the Cullens have to leave," he stated. "But we don't want a war, so I'm willing to give them some time, despite what a couple members of the council suggested."

"I don't think Edward's family is going to come back," Bella admitted. "Anyway, the vampire who attacked Jake and me didn't come because of the Cullens. He came because of me."

"I know." Billy shut his eyes, shaking his head, as if he were having trouble continuing. "The council discussed it, too. Bella, as Charlie's daughter and Jake's best friend, you're family. But your presence here is attracting the worst danger for our tribe." He bowed his head and stared at the hands in his lap. He was a father, too, and couldn't imagine how hurt Charlie would be if he knew the truth.

Bella considered the plans she and Edward were making; she was still determined to leave for college, so he wouldn't have to hide anymore. "I'll leave after graduation."

Billy acknowledged her words with a nod. "That's a good decision. The sooner Cullen's gone, too, the better. If he's still here by summer, I don't know how it'll be possible to avoid a fight."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Back in her car, Bella clicked on the little keys of her cell phone as fast as she could, eager to get in touch with Edward. "_I need to talk to you. May I come to your place?" _she wrote.

The answer arrived before she had started the truck. _"I'm waiting for you at the intersection. Drive safely."_

She left the main road and came in sight. As soon as she pulled over, Edward climbed into her car. He circled her shoulders and inhaled her scent deeply, letting out a breath of relief. "How did it go?" he asked.

_Jake is my best friend, and yet I couldn't talk to him_, she wanted to tell him. She had been denied even the chance to say goodbye to her friend. "I talked with Billy. Jacob needed to rest."

Edward led her inside his house, and they nestled on the couch. He had turned on the heat, guessing that Bella would enjoy some warmth on such a cold and rainy day, and the living room was now cozy. When he draped a blanket around her and kissed her lightly on the lips, she gave him a small smile – the first since she had come back from the reservation.

"The visit didn't go well, did it?"

She shrugged. "Billy thinks it's better if you leave. The Quileutes are grateful for what you did for Jake, but they believe that if you stay, other young men will turn into werewolves."

"The vampire who made them change is now reduced to ashes," Edward pointed out.

Bella tried to keep her tone calm, despite the memory of Laurent's attack. "We can leave anyway, can't we? There's no need for me to stay here after I graduate."

Her tension didn't go unnoticed. Edward put a finger under her chin and tilted up her head until her eyes met his. "Is it your decision, or have the Quileutes told you something?"

Bella kept her voice as steady as possible, choosing her words carefully. "Billy told me it's better if I leave, too."

"How dare they?" Edward growled. "This is your home. They can't force you to do anything!"

She leaned a hand on his cheek and went closer to him. "It's not a big deal, really, and it makes sense. It's not your presence that is really worrying the tribe. Laurent came here because of me, and it's me Victoria is hunting down. If I leave, Charlie and the Quileutes would be safe."

Edward's expression hardened. "Victoria will be taken care of," he vowed, his voice low and cold.

"It's too risky," she objected. She recalled the fight between Laurent and Edward and couldn't stand the thought that Edward would risk his life again to protect her.

"It's necessary," he retorted. "I've waited too long. I should have ended her sooner, but I'm going to fix my mistake. Jasper is helping me track her. She won't have a chance."

"No, Edward, please," Bella pleaded. "You and your family are putting your lives at stake because of me. If something happened to Jasper, what would become of Alice?" Tears prickled at her eyes as she mentioned her best friend.

Edward's expression softened. "As soon as Victoria's found, I'll be the one who will descend on her. I'm not going to endanger Jasper or anyone else. He volunteered to help me, since he has more experience than I with strategies and tracking." He paused; when he spoke again, his voice was shy. "It's his way to reconnect with me after what happened at your birthday party."

Bella reached out for Edward's hand and caressed it. "I forgave Jasper a long time ago," she told him quietly. "I can imagine how hard the last months have been on him. You don't even need to imagine it, since you can read his thoughts. Please, don't carry a grudge."

Edward brought her hand to his lips and kissed it lightly. "The thought of losing you..." he murmured, his voice pained.

She moved closer to him. "I know," she sighed. She took a deep breath before speaking again. "If you're going to fight Victoria–"

"Not _if_. When," he said curtly.

"You don't have to fight her alone."

He frowned. "Jasper is already helping me."

"I wasn't talking about him."

Edward quirked an eyebrow at her.

"If I were changed, I wouldn't be a liability," Bella suggested. "I might help."

"No," he countered.

"There wouldn't actually be any need to track her, since she wouldn't pose a danger for me anymore," she insisted.

"No," he snapped. A veil of sadness clouded his expression. "If you're still willing to be changed, I'll accept it. But it will be a free choice, not because of this."

"I decided long ago," she retorted.

He looked at her straight in the eyes, his gaze fierce and determined. "I won't let you come into this existence out of fear or because you feel that it's the only way to escape from danger," he promised.

"What about _your_ fears? First James, now Laurent and Victoria...I don't want you to be afraid to lose me."

He shook his head as if trying to rid himself of the idea. "If something happened to me after you'd already been changed..." he mumbled.

Bella's eyes widened. "Don't even say it," she breathed.

She had never considered it, but Edward's course of thoughts was clear. In her eyes, he was indestructible, while she was the weak mortal. But should she lose Edward after her change, she would lose her only reason to abandon her human life. She would be alone, trapped in an endless existence and without any way back. Just the idea of him facing Victoria made her shudder. While no other human had witnessed two vampires fighting and stayed alive after that, Bella had seen Edward go up against James and then kill Laurent to protect her. They were immortal, strong, and unstoppable – and yet they each had been destroyed. Their fate could just as easily have been Edward's.

The memory of Laurent's final message from Victoria sent a shiver down Bella's back.

_A mate for a mate. _

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>

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><p>The next chapter is due to be posted in two weeks. Due to the possible presence of juicy yellow fruits, the rating of this story might change to M in the following chapter. Stay tuned.<p>

Meanwhile, _An Italian Winter_ is now complete, and I'm working on new stories.

**_Thank you!_ **to my wonderful friends **Camilla10**, **Miaokuancha**, **Marlena580**, and **Jmolly**.

I'm on Twitter (**RaumTweet**).

_A Good Liar_'s extras are posted on: **h.t.t.p : ****/ ****/ ****myreadinglounge. ****blogspot. ****com/**


	8. My Way

**Raum**

_**A Good Liar**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 8: "My Way"<strong>

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><p><em>Victoria's full lips stretched in a smug grin as she took a step toward Edward. She looked at him through her lashes, and her body seemed to hum in anticipation.<em>

"_Finally," she purred, as if she were welcoming a lover._

_Edward crouched. His fingers were ready claws, the tension evident in the muscles of his arm, like a bow strained to the utmost. His low snarl vibrated through the forest._

_Victoria's smile widened, as if she had heard a cry of pleasure. "I would have liked to make you growl for a different reason," she mocked. "What good can any human be for a vampire's desires?"_

_Edward shifted on his feet, but Victoria did the same, mirroring his movements. They seemed still, and yet, they repeatedly bolted toward each other. They sashayed back and forth, struggling to find the opening that would decide everything in a single violent flurry._

_Suddenly Victoria changed her strategy and started to slide away, but Edward didn't relent. _

"_Victoria," he called, stalking her. His voice was calm, almost soothing. "Don't you want to know James' last thoughts?"_

_She showed her teeth and hissed at him, but held her ground._

_He nodded, acknowledging her decision. "When he was destroyed, he regretted that he hadn't brought you with him. Your instinct for escaping is uncanny," he went on. "You could have saved him."_

_His words made Victoria's irises darken; her expression molded into a mask of pain. _

_Edward tilted his head. "Does it still hurt so much, talking about him?" _

_She took a step toward her attacker. He didn't recoil._

"_So you still love him? What a waste," he provoked her. "Don't you know you were never more than a convenience to him? A way to be entertained and distracted when he wasn't hunting?"_

"_Liar!" she roared._

_He tapped his temple. "Your mind can't lie to me, and James' didn't either. He considered you nothing but a tool for his hunts. A well-behaved hound."_

_With a strangled screech, Victoria darted toward Edward. But abruptly she stilled, her ruby eyes shining in triumph. "Mindreader," she crooned. "You talk about James, but don't you want to know how you destroyed your pet when you left?" _

_She almost laughed when he shuddered. "Laurent told me she cried every night, calling your name," she taunted. Edward shut his eyes but couldn't defend himself as her mind pummeled him with what she knew about Bella. For a tiny second, he didn't match Victoria's move._

_She leaped on him, aiming for his throat._

_Her mouth brushed once across his neck, like a caress. It made a soft sound – like a swishing silk scarf – and then Edward's head was no longer connected to the rest of his body_.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Bella," Edward called, shaking her gently. "Bella, wake up," he kept telling her, his voice more frantic.

Bella's panicked breaths erupted in a scream. She scrambled to a sitting position and found herself in Edward's arms.

"She got you!" she babbled through her sobs. "Victoria...she said she's good for you...Laurent..."

He shushed her, caressing her back. "It was a nightmare," he whispered to her. "You're safe. I'm here."

Slowly, she recalled how he had insisted on making her a cup of tea. She had sipped it while snuggled on the couch, wrapped in Edward's arms and a wool blanket that smelled like him. He had hummed to her while the rain was still tapping on the windows. A nap had become too tempting, at that point.

Bella shivered, recalling the monster she had met in her slumber and the words Victoria had spoken.

"Am I making you cold?" Edward asked.

"No, it's just the bad dream."

"Would talking about it help?"

"You fought Victoria, and she killed you. Your head...I saw her holding it like a trophy."

Edward tightened his embrace. "I won't let it happen."

"She showed you what she knew about the time when we were apart," Bella recalled. "You succumbed because you faltered when she mocked you about me. And she said–" she stopped mid-sentence, suppressing a sob.

"What did she say?"

"That she would have been good for you...for your desires," she choked out. "You told her she hadn't been anything but a distraction for James."

_This is nonsense_, Edward wanted to object. But some of the things Bella had said struck him like a slap in the face. _You're not good for me...my kind is very easily distracted. _The damned lies he had told her when he had left were thrown back at him. Had Laurent's attack stirred them up? Or, despite what he hoped, were the wounds he had inflicted on Bella pushing on all her deepest insecurities, never to be healed?

Bella ducked her head under his chin, curled up against him.

"You're my life," he whispered to her. "You're my mate," he went on, his voice lowered to the point that she could feel his words vibrating in his chest.

"I don't trust myself to be…enough. To deserve you."

"Isabella." His eyes were serious when he searched for hers. "My bond with you is unbreakable. If there's anything I can do to prove it to you further, just tell me."

She leaned toward him and searched for his mouth. When they kissed, Edward could still taste the salt of her previous tears. With his lips, he caressed away her tears, cradling her face in his hands and holding her as tightly as he dared. The moment when he would pull her face away from his and break their contact didn't come. Bella nibbled at his lips, her tongue pushing against his mouth. He slowed his pace, minding his sharp teeth.

Her hunger didn't lessen. "Hold me tighter."

"I'd crush you."

"No." Her voice was hoarse as she pressed her frame against his chest. "I need you." She buried her fingers in his hair, tugging at the strands and trying to bring him toward herself. "Closer."

"Bella," he breathed. "We must stop."

Edward tensed as he looked at her – she was flushed, with her hair like an unruly halo framing her features.

"I want to belong to you," she declared. "And I want you to belong to me."

"I'm already yours. I'll show it to you in every possible way."

"So don't stop," she urged. "I trust you, Edward. You won't hurt me – you would never."

"It's not just about my control," he admitted. "It's not the right moment. You deserve better than this."

She looked away, and disappointment spread on her face. "What do you mean? You're everything I've ever wanted," she tried to argue. "I want to give you my body, and my life. Forever."

He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. "Do you have any idea how hard it is, resisting you?"

"Then don't push me away."

His thumb stroked lightly against her cheek. He held her face and brought his mouth toward hers. "Right now you're upset and scared – no wonder, considering what we've been through. I do want to make love to you. I've imagined it so many times." He took a breath, and Bella was sure that, if it had been possible, Edward would have been blushing because of his admission. "I want that moment to be filled with joy. It will be perfect." He paused, and a warm smile lightened his face. "One day I'll–" He stopped, as if he had revealed too much.

"What will you do?"

He took her hand in his, gliding over her fingers. "One day I'll ask you to do me the honor of becoming my wife," he murmured.

Bella pulled her hand from his and averted her eyes. "Edward...I..." she mumbled.

He distanced himself from her, struck by the worry on her face. "It's because of your parents," he surmised, his voice unsure.

She shrugged.

"I know you witnessed them being unhappy in their marriage, but it's not always that way," he tried to reassure her. "I'm not talking only of Carlisle and Esme, or of my siblings. My parents were happy, too. In my world, if I had found you, I would have endeavored to secure your hand. It would have been my way of telling you that I wanted you for eternity, even when the word didn't have quite the same connotations."

"Would you have waited until we were married, before..." she waved a hand in front of her.

"It would have been my duty to wait, to make you my wife first, before making love to you."

Bella grimaced. "Just as I figured..." she muttered under her breath.

"I'm not following you. Please, talk to me."

"I'm not part of your world," she countered. "Because I'm human, while you aren't, or because I'm not from the same time as you. Either way, I keep thinking that I'm not good for you."

Edward gaped at her, shocked by her outburst.

"I see why Carlisle thought that Rosalie would have been a good match for you," she blurted.

"What does it have to do with her?" he retorted.

"She belonged to your same time," Bella went on, her words interspersed by hiccups. "You wouldn't have had to pretend with her. She would have made you at ease and could share the way of life of your human past. You wouldn't have felt as if you were in the _wrong _time."

He scrutinized her face for long moment. When he spoke again, his voice was calm, despite the turmoil Bella had provoked in him with her doubts. "Have I ever said that I feel like I'm in the wrong time? How would I consider the time when I met you _wrong?"_ he asked, shaking his head in disbelief. "We come from different worlds, but what really matters is the direction we're choosing together. _You_ are the one who gave me back my humanity. I don't mean the traditions or conventions of some era I've lived through. You gave me back feelings, faith, values. You gave me back my dreams, Bella."

"I shouldn't have said–" she apologized.

He stroked her hair, shushing her. "You trusted me with your thoughts and doubts. I appreciate that you shared them."

He caressed her back, trying to relieve the stress he could feel there. "I know the way marriage is often seen nowadays. Smart girls don't get married too soon, right? You seem more scared about getting married than when you discovered I was a vampire. And yet, you're ready to choose me forever, giving up your life." He put a finger under her chin and tilted up her head. "Joining me in this existence, you'll see the world change many, many times. I guess sometimes you'll be confused – it still happens to me, too. But we can help each other to stay true to ourselves. At the core, it is and will be just you and me. Edward and Bella."

"Edward and Bella," she repeated in a soft whisper, already calming down. "I love the way that sounds."

He let out a small laugh. "I love _you_. You're beautiful." He skimmed his nose on her collarbone. "Brave." His hands roamed her back, making her shiver. "Passionate," he murmured in her ear. He took a deep breath, letting her scent invade him and spread through his body.

Edward restrained himself, despite his desire washing him in rolling waves. Gently, he distanced himself from Bella and looked into the pureness of her eyes. He didn't want her to connect their first lovemaking to the fear that Laurent's attack and Victoria's threat had instilled in her heart.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The days piled up, and Bella and Edward went back to their routine. One night, Bella was studying at home, and she jumped in her chair as a tapping on the window took her away from her thoughts. No longer hiding his speed from her, Edward was a blur to her eyes: there he was in her room, casually propped on the windowsill, with his legs crossed. The dim moonlight enhanced the mesmerizing perfection of his features, and his amber eyes shone with golden flecks as he smiled.

"Isn't it unhealthy, studying so late?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Says the one who's always thought he works best at night."

There had been other afternoons with Edward, and he had begun to share little bits about his past. It could be a memory from his human years – like the day he had recalled that, as a boy, he used to do his homework at night or stayed awake until late and read, despite his parents' disapproval – or something from the decades he had spent with the Cullens. Bella had noticed how he didn't refer anymore to his human time as the only _life_ he'd had, in contrast with his vampire existence. He was the same man, whose essence hadn't been lost since his transformation.

Bella closed her books and stood up, turning toward him. She hid the paper she had been working on behind her back. "How long have you been here?"

"A while. I know how to pass unnoticed, but you were so focused that I doubt you'd have noticed a mammoth lumbering around the room."

She chuckled and began to put her notes away.

"Busy week at school?"

"Actually, I was preparing a paper for a scholarship application."

"Would you show it to me?"

She fidgeted with a pen. "Another time...it's still a rough draft. I'm afraid even its final version won't be that good."

"I've read enough of your papers to know how smart you are. You'll do a great job, and anyway scholarships shouldn't be a worry for you, right?"

Bella frowned. "We've already talked about it, and you know I want to pay for college on my own. As far as enrolling in my same college, whatever it will be, is fine for you, I'm applying for some scholarships. This one's for a school in London and would be my first choice."

"I'm proud of what you're doing, and I'm not trying to get in your way," Edward clarified. "It's just that tuition won't be a problem, wherever you'd like to go. You'll have a safety net if you don't get a scholarship. Just in case."

"This scholarship would cover every expense for a year abroad, attending a course in London," Bella explained. "I'm thinking of it as the last human thing I'll do before I'm changed." She said it without the slightest pause or hesitation. As if it were nothing. The end of her human life. The end of _her,_ of Bella as he had known her. The end of her blood, her scent, her warmth, her tender softness.

Edward had promised that, if becoming like him was her will, he wasn't going to deny her anymore. But the way that she talked about it, so-matter-of-factly, floored him.

As much as he'd promised to abide by her will, he couldn't keep the sadness from veiling his expression. "Just one year?"

She nodded. "You haven't changed your mind, have you?"

Edward tried to hide his discomfort with a shrug. "I was just hoping for more," he confessed. "There's no rush for you to be transformed. If you want other human experiences – completing a college degree, for example – I would never thwart your aspirations."

She gave him a small smile. "One year is enough," she declared.

He was going to object, but thought better of it. "Whatever you choose, I'll be on your side."

Bella glanced at the messy pile of notes still on her desk. "Will you give the paper a look before I submit it, then?" she asked, her eyes suddenly shy.

"Of course I will."

She snuggled on her bed, lying on her side, and Edward went to sit beside her. She stretched out her arms and couldn't suppress a yawn.

He moved closer to her and skimmed his fingers on her neck. "You deserve a prize for all the effort you're putting into your studies," he whispered to her, his voice a soft caress. He kneaded his palms into her shoulders and then smoothed down her back.

She moaned as he began to massage her muscles in earnest. "If I get this every time, I'll study even more."

"Really?" he mumbled.

None of them spoke further as they abandoned themselves in each other's arms, and in a few minutes Bella fell asleep. Edward tucked her in and savored the time he could spend with her – a precious gift he had risked losing forever.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Edward didn't bother to finish drying himself off in the shower as he heard the ring of an incoming message on his phone. When he looked at the screen and read the email Bella had forwarded him, he threw the towel high in the air.

"Yeah!" he shouted, doing a double fist pump, buck naked and dripping in the middle of the carpet.

_Come to my place ASAP. We're celebrating!_ He texted Bella with one hand, while getting dressed with the other. A moment later, he was running through the woods. He would be able to keep an eye on her truck as she approached and then would wait for her at the junction. He hadn't caught any trace of Victoria in the area, and the wolves were patrolling their lands, but Edward did his best to leave Bella unguarded as seldom as possible.

Pacing among the trees, he wondered when she would tell Charlie she had been granted the scholarship and was going to London by the end of the summer.

Edward recalled the day when he had peppered Bella with questions about what she liked and hated, the places she had been and the ones she wanted to visit. When she had said that London was on her bucket list, he would have taken her there on the spot, just to see her smile. But now he was even happier and more proud of her. She had made her own dreams come true.

Only a few weeks separated Bella from graduation. Edward began to imagine visiting London's museums together or showing her a secluded spot in Hampstead Heath that had become his refuge when he had spent a winter in Britain in the early eighties.

There wasn't anything he didn't want to share with her. In no place would he be able to feel at home without her. He stopped pacing, thinking about the surprise that was awaiting Bella in his room. _Would she understand how much she's changed me? _he wondered. _What will she think?_

He picked up the excited rhythm of her heart when she was still quite far, driving toward his house faster than ever.

When he had her in his arms, he didn't give her enough time to enter the house on her feet or to take off her jacket. He joined his lips with hers, swept Bella into his arms and hopped up the stairs toward his room.

As he stopped, Bella looked around in disbelief. "Am I in the wrong house?" she marveled.

The furniture in Edward's room had been rearranged. His black leather couch had been pushed to the north wall. The stereo was shoved up against the vast shelves of books and CDs. A new acquisition dominated the room: a large bed with a dark walnut frame and a wool coverlet in shades of sienna. On the nightstand, some lit candles provided a soft light.

Bella motioned to the bed. "This wasn't here two days ago."

Edward led her toward it, and they both sat down. "I thought it could be useful...you know, if you want to take a nap." His voice went lower. "Or to give you a proper massage." Bella was at loss for words; did the bed mean what she thought it did? Had Edward changed his mind?

But before she could pursue such an amazing thought, he moved to a corner of the room and fetched a package.

"Congratulations, Miss Swan. London is waiting for you," he told her in a perfect British accent, placing a light kiss on her lips.

Still overwhelmed, Bella eyed the gift. "How could you know?" she spluttered. "I got the email less than an hour ago!" Her expression hardened. "Edward, if you've had anything to do with me being accepted..."

"No," he rushed to reassure her. "It's just that I was sure you would do well. I root for you, remember?"

She unwrapped the gift and beamed at the elegant leather suitcase he had purchased for her. It was in a fine light gray hue, with a matching key ring of the same brand. "It's beautiful," she murmured.

Edward covered her fingers with his hand as she lifted the empty key-ring. "Carlisle owns an apartment in London, and I spent some time there in the eighties. I'll have a second set of keys made for you as soon as we land."

She hugged him tightly. "Thank you," he told him. "Thank you for everything."

He lifted her and moved them both toward the center of the bed. Eyes closed, Bella let herself relax on the fluffy cushions. Edward hovered over her, leaving a trail of kisses across her forehead, down her cheeks and on her neck, but always avoiding her mouth. When she leaned on her elbows, trying to reach his lips, he pushed her down, raising her arms above her head. She looked up at him, and he gave her a mischievous grin.

"Trust me," he mouthed before she could say anything.

He lowered his head and breathed closer to her lips, making her insides clench. Bella inhaled deeply, basking in Edward's scent – but it wasn't enough. He moved infinitesimally closer, but as soon as she tried to raise her head, he quickly straightened his back and distanced himself.

He shook his head at her, smiling broadly. "Stay still," he instructed. He released her wrists, but playfully glared at her. "Still," he repeated, his voice husky.

Bella gasped as he lifted the hem of his shirt and, in a fast motion, bared his chest. She looked at his hard abdominals and gazed upward, where his well-defined muscles covered his silent heart. The boldness in Edward's eyes faltered as he felt himself under her amazed scrutiny.

"At any moment, you can tell me to stop," he reminded her softly.

The words rang in her ears. Bella nodded absentmindedly, but she was focused on the perfect curve of Edward's lips and the way they curled up in a shy smile.

He reached for her body again. He unbuttoned her shirt, and his hands stilled on the little portion of cleavage he had revealed. Under his cold touch, Bella's breaths quickened, her heart galloping in her chest. He took off her garment and drew a finger across her breasts and down her abdomen, stopping at the waistline of her jeans.

"You're stunning," he murmured. When he spoke, Bella realized that he had been holding his breath.

He bowed his head and locked his eyes with hers. His irises had lost their honey hue, and now two thin rings of dark gold circled perfect blackness.

His hands glided over her warm skin. He touched her with reverence, worshipping her with his body. Bella shivered as his fingertips made contact with her sides and ran up toward her elbows and armpits. She arched her back and let out a long moan.

When Edward's body aligned with hers, Bella pushed her hips against him. He shuddered as her desire dominated him. Waves of scorching heat threatened to burn him as he took a breath and inhaled her scent. His mind could manage thousands of layers at the same time, and yet they weren't enough to register all he felt in that moment. _Pheromones_. The word resurfaced in his memory. He couldn't read Bella's thoughts, but the messages her body was sending him were enough to sweep him away.

"I want to touch you." Her words erupted from her throat in a hungry plea and became his undoing.

He buried his face in the crook of her neck, abandoning himself in her arms. "I'm yours."

Her hands explored his back, her nails lightly scratching against his marble skin. When she reached his belt, she hesitated. "May I?" she asked, so low that a human wouldn't have heard her.

Edward had to swallow hard before being able to speak. "Yes. I want you."

He mirrored her gestures and rolled down her jeans, caressing every inch he uncovered. Slowly, he slid a finger under her pants. He clenched his jaw, and his entire frame shook as he was met with her response. He searched for her eyes, as though they were his beacon. "Isabella," he breathed.

He leaned toward her, ever so carefully, never breaking his gaze, searching her face for any sign of discomfort.

Bella replied to his worry with a smile, and in her expression he discovered a gleam he had never caught before. "I wish you could read my mind right now," she whispered. "Because I'll never find the right words to tell you how much I love you."

With each one of his gentle caresses he felt her desire increase. His very fibers were begging him to overcome the separation between their bodies, and he surrendered. Bella circled his hips with her legs and with no sign of pain she welcomed him. But when she began to cringe, he stilled.

"Is there anything wrong?" he asked, preparing to withdraw.

Her blush set her cheeks aflame. "I can feel you inside me...and it's kind of..." she bit on her lower lip, looking for words that didn't come. "Just don't stop," she reassured him at last.

Her wish became his command. He grabbed the blanket around them and balanced every single muscle as he dared to thrust. Her breaths matched his rhythm, giving him the best pace.

When her climax arrived, it was sweeter than anything he had experienced before. Edward had never felt as alive and powerful as when his name became a scream of pleasure on Bella's lips. She snapped her head back, exposing her neck. But the pull of the girl in his arms – of his mate, he reminded himself – was stronger than any call her blood could have for his predatory instincts.

When James had bitten Bella and Edward had sucked out her blood, he had realized for the first time that she was right: he loved her too much to hurt her. Then, he had won over his bloodlust in order to save her from death. Now, he overcame the predator hidden in him and, with Bella, he celebrated life.

With a few more thrusts, his pleasure came, too. A low growl echoed in his chest until he relaxed in her arms. Spent, they changed their position and lay on their sides, facing each other. Edward drew Bella to himself, and she nestled in his arms, with her cheek against his. He felt moisture on his skin and looked at her, realizing that she was crying.

"Bella," he said softly. "What's happening, love?"

She smiled at him through her tears. "I've never been so happy. No past sorrow has been as strong as the joy you give me. Loving you, being as we are right now, is worth everything we've gone through."

Her words overwhelmed him. Like sea waves, they erased all the desperation he had experienced in over a century. His rebellion, the guilt over the lives he had taken, the contempt he had for the monster hidden inside him – everything was healed by the love Bella was giving him. "I owe you my soul," he declared, sealing his words with a kiss.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>

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><p>I know, I know, the canon coverlet in Edward's room is golden. I've always thought it was kind of tacky, so I've given our Cullen boy a more masculine bed and comforter. After all, he's still a man, right?<p>

The next chapter is due to be posted in two weeks.

**_Thank you!_ **to my wonderful friends **Camilla10**, **Miaokuancha**, **Marlena580**, and **Jmolly**.

I'm on Twitter (**RaumTweet**).

_A Good Liar_'s extras are posted on: **h.t.t.p : ****/ ****/ ****myreadinglounge. ****blogspot. ****com/**


	9. Bonfire

**Raum**

_**A Good Liar**_

Please keep in mind that if your review isn't connected to a FFnet penname, I can't reply to it. In particular, this week I couldn't get back to "Hi" who left me a lovely comment._ **  
><strong>_

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><p><strong>Chapter 9: "Bonfire"<strong>

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><p>Bella finally graduated. A week later, sitting beside her in her room, Edward recalled that she hadn't slept much on the night before graduation day; they had shared memories of the time they spent in high school. He recalled how he had wanted to be the first to give her a present.<p>

"_Here," he whispered, giving her an envelope._

_Bella eyed him in confusion, but she beamed as she unwrapped the gift: an old black and white picture of Edward. He was smiling, gorgeous in his graduation gown. _

"_Your graduation," she murmured, connecting the boy who was looking at her from a distant time with the one who, with the same captivating gaze, was beside her in that moment._

"_When my parents died and I was turned, I was still in my senior year. I didn't graduate as a human, but I did it many times as a vampire. This photo was taken at the first one," he explained. "Tomorrow we'll have your graduation picture to match it."_

"_We could have graduated together tomorrow, if–"_

_He understood what Bella was going to say – if she hadn't lied about Edward's death; if he hadn't left her in the first place – and gently shushed her. "No ifs, love. We _will_ graduate together, just not tomorrow." He searched for her gaze, one corner of his mouth twitching upward in his most endearingly teasing grin. "College, I mean. We don't __want to be stuck in high school, right?"_

Bella distanced herself from him, snapping him out of his thoughts. "I have to get ready and go." She sighed, reluctant to leave the beloved harbor of his embrace.

Edward refrained from protesting, but frowned.

"It'll only be for a few hours," she reassured him. "I'll be back so soon you won't have time to miss me. Doesn't time pass faster for vampires than for humans?" she tried to joke.

"It's not about how long you'll be away," he pointed out. "It's _where_ you're going."

She gave him a small smile. "As if I didn't know," she told him softly. She caressed his forehead, smoothing the crease between his eyebrows. He held his breath as her fingers brushed his high cheekbones and went down, tracing his strong jawline. "It's just a dinner. My goodbye to the Quileute and La Push," she reminded him. "Tonight I'll be in your arms again."

Edward didn't speak further. The coming hours would be too long. He had been at Bella's side when she had received the news that Renèe wasn't coming to the graduation. Bella had hidden her disappointment well, but nonetheless she hadn't refused his comfort. When she had come back home after celebrating with her friends, he had shared her enthusiasm, and they'd had their private celebration, too.

They had spent hours making plans for the summer: Bella would visit her mother in Phoenix and then would leave – officially – for a holiday on her own. Actually, she would visit the Cullens. A meeting with them had been finally been arranged, and she and Alice were keeping in touch through phone calls and emails. After some days with Edward's family, it would be time to leave for London. They had savored every moment, daydreaming about the upcoming months. That was, until the day Bella had been invited to La Push.

Charlie had gone with Billy to fish. Unfortunately, she had been called to dinner, too. Edward had understood that refusing the invitation wouldn't be the best choice for her, because it would have seemed too strange to Charlie; Bella considered it a chance to say goodbye to people who had been like family to her.

Regardless, Edward wasn't good at hiding his irritation. "I'll go for a quick hunt," he decided, taking his leave as she went to prepare herself for the evening. "I'll be waiting for you in the woods when you get back."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The dinner at the Blacks' turned out to be even more awkward than Bella had imagined. She hadn't spent much time with Jacob since their argument in the woods, on the day she had visited the Cullen house and found it empty. They had limited themselves to greeting each other when he and Billy had visited Charlie, and she had always found a good excuse to avoid longer meetings.

Both Jake and Billy were acting as if Bella didn't know the truth about the wolves – as if Laurent's attack had never happened. _The Quileute blame the Cullens because they lie, pretending to be humans, _she considered. _But aren't they hiding their own truth behind a façade? _

She caught Billy looking at her with a veil of sadness in his eyes; then he looked at Charlie, as if he were pitying his best friend over the loss of his only daughter. Bella stabbed the fried fish with her fork as if it had been the one to anger her. She swallowed a mouthful of food, regretting that she hadn't refused the invitation.

Charlie seemed oblivious to the silent turmoil going on at the dinner table. As if the evening wasn't embarrassing enough, he began to talk about the summers when, as children, Bella and Jake had liked to play on the beach together. Jake erupted in a laugh as Charlie described the 'cake' Bella had prepared with mud and her attempt to make Jake eat it.

"Jake, we had to stop you before you could actually gulp it down," Charlie recalled, chuckling. "You said you didn't want to waste Bella's efforts. Always a gentleman, right?"

"Good thing Bella cooks better now," Billy added.

Bella looked up at him and Jake. There had been a time when she felt welcome in their home. A small smile ghosted on her lips as she recalled those vacations in La Push. But the question she was dreading didn't take long to arrive and upset her again.

"You kids aren't hanging out together as much as you used to," Charlie observed. "Is everything all right?"

"I've just had a lot to study," she rushed to answer. "You know, for graduation and the scholarship."

_Scholarship_. It was the magic word that had the power to steer Charlie's conversation immediately in another direction.

Her father beamed at her. "Right, the scholarship. Bella's going to London next year," he announced proudly.

Billy's eyes widened. "Congratulation, Bells." When he smiled at her, she thought she had caught him sighing in relief. Bella fought against the urge to roll her eyes. If he ever guessed that Edward was going with her to London...

Jake froze. "London?" he repeated. He shook his head in disbelief. "That's great news," he muttered. Bella raised her eyes and met his. "Later," he mouthed, signaling that the subject wasn't over.

"Are you staying for the bonfire?" Billy asked. "The guys are having some fun tonight. Leah and Seth will be there, too."

Charlie excused himself. "I can't stay late, because I've got an early shift tomorrow. But what about you, Bells? You'd enjoy it, and you came with your truck, so you can stay even if I have to leave. "

"Err...I..." she babbled, looking for an excuse to leave with her father.

"Come on, Bells, you deserve some fun," Jake insisted.

"He's right," Charlie agreed. "You can't spend every night in your room studying."

Bella would have given anything in that moment to be back in her room with Edward. She glared at Jake, but his gaze was warm and kind when he looked back at her, silently pleading for some time together. For a moment she wondered if he knew that there wouldn't be other chances.

"Okay," she relented at last.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After Charlie left, Jake escorted Bella to the bonfire. But as soon as the young men spotted her coming to the beach, she was met by cold gazes and tight smiles. Embry averted his eyes when she waved at him. He appeared to be on his own, and Bella noticed Sam's absence.

"Isn't Sam coming?" she asked Jake when they were still a few yards away from the group.

"He and Quil are on patrol tonight."

"On patrol?" she echoed, remembering the night that had made her think that every danger was over.

_Edward couldn't wait until the morning to share the news, so he had awakened Bella in the middle of the night._

"_What happened?" she asked, alarmed when she noticed the odd hour. _

"_Victoria has been destroyed," he announced. "I wanted to be the one to kill her, but Jasper found her while he was hunting with Emmett and Carlisle, and they couldn't miss the opportunity." _

_The relief because of Victoria's death mingled with tension as Bella looked at Edward. His expression was hard, his eyes slightly narrowed, as if in that same moment he were living in his mind the battle he hadn't had the chance to fight. When she rested her hand on his cheek, he didn't lean into her touch as he usually did. _

"_Carlisle was there?" she asked softly. She recalled how Emmett and Jasper had fought against James, but she couldn't imagine Carlisle tearing Victoria apart._

_Edward nodded, and the tension on his face lessened. "You're family, Bella. We know Carlisle would never hurt anyone, but he would do anything to protect his children." His voice became warmer and soothing. "You're a daughter to him."_

"Laurent and Victoria have been killed," Bella reminded Jake. "Why do Sam and Quil need to be on guard?"

"The area isn't bloodsucker-free yet," Jake muttered under his breath.

Before Bella could reply, Seth jogged toward them and welcomed her with a hug. A toddler was with him. "She's Claire, my little cousin," he explained, introducing the young girl. "She's visiting Emily for the weekend, and tonight Leah and I are babysitting."

Bella crouched in front of the child. At first Claire moved behind Seth's legs, but then she peeped out and smiled back at her.

"Hi, Claire," she crooned. "I'm Bella. Can you say my name?"

"Beh-wah," she tried.

Bella looked around and spotted a small shell in the sand. "Look. What do we have here?"

Claire stepped forward, curious.

Bella handed her the shell. "A little gift for you." She pointed to the shore. "There are many others over there. Why don't you ask Seth to go there in the morning?"

"Here you are, Seth." Leah's stern voice caught all them by surprise as she arrived. "I was looking for you and Claire. You know that she tends to walk away. Don't take your eyes off her."

"I used to do the same," Bella cut in. "Once I got lost in a mall in Phoenix–"

"Seth, are you coming?" Leah interrupted her, moving toward the bonfire. "Jake," she called over her shoulder, "don't be too late."

Bella stood up and waved at Claire as the child and Seth followed Leah. She refrained from commenting on Leah's harsh behavior and kept her thoughts to herself.

"Want to go for a walk?" Jake offered.

She welcomed the opportunity, glad that she didn't have to spend the whole night with the other guys.

"You're good with children," he observed once they distanced themselves from the group.

"Claire is a cute little girl."

"You could be the mom of a child like her, one day," he went on. "A baby Bella."

She shrugged.

"You don't have to renounce it," Jake insisted. "No one should make you give it up."

Bella increased her speed, pacing nervously. "Don't start again."

"I'm not letting go easily," he retorted. "You're still free to choose."

"I've already made my choices, and I'm happy with them."

"Yeah, go figure. What is this news about London? Is the bloodsucker in the mood for some European food? Is he offering you a trip over there to make you forget what you're leaving behind?"

Bella glared at Jake. "First of all, I'm going to London because I've gotten a scholarship – and I've worked hard for this. And then, in case you haven't noticed, Edward saved your life. Isn't that enough to earn him some respect?"

"I wouldn't have been in danger if it hadn't been for another of those leeches," he seethed. "And I'd have given my life if it meant that I could save yours."

Bella was at a loss for words. If Jake hadn't stopped Laurent when the vampire had attacked her, Edward would have been too late. The memory of the beaten wolf confirmed how Jake meant his words. He would have actually died for her. "Edward and I are leaving soon," she said, her tone calmer. "Can't we say goodbye without fighting?"

"Goodbye?" Jake repeated incredulously, his voice sounding shaky. "You've just confirmed what I was dreading. What's next, Bells? How long before that leech bites you?"

She raised a hand, trying to end the conversation, but Jake didn't stop.

"What do you think will happen when Charlie gets the news of your _death_?" he pushed on. "Do you believe I'll be able to look him in the eye if I don't try everything I can to stop his only daughter from throwing her life away?"

"Enough," she snapped. "I need some time alone," she mumbled, running away.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Bella ran until she felt short of breath. She could understand how, for Edward, running was the best way to let off steam when too many concerns weighed on him at once. She wondered if she would need to do the same, as vampires didn't get tired. After she was changed, how long would she need to run before calming down?

Jake's words echoed in her mind, making her push on her legs again, resuming her run. The thought of Charlie, mourning her with his friends, didn't leave her mind. Would she ever regret her decision to become like Edward? None of the Cullens had gotten the opportunity to have a say in their transformation. Since they hadn't chosen their existence, if she ever came to miss the human life she had renounced and the people she was leaving behind, nobody in her new family would understand. She promised herself she would never raise such a concern with Edward, knowing how much it would hurt him. It was something she couldn't discuss with him, even if it meant she would be alone in her longing.

Bella had followed a narrow trail on a hill, where the coast was high and formed a cliff. She began to walk down, heading toward the bonfire. She inhaled deeply as the sea brought her its salty scent, and she lost herself in her memories. Images of warm summer nights, when she had been with the Quileute kids on the beach listening to their stories, kept her company. Now she was going to say a quick goodbye and leave. _Edward. _His name echoed like music in her mind; Bella found herself smiling at the thought that in less than an hour she would be back in his embrace.

A small figure on the trail caught her attention. She rushed toward the child, hoping that she didn't move toward the brink and put herself in danger.

"Claire," Bella called softly. "Where are Seth and Leah? Have you come here alone?"

The child looked up at her. Before Bella could gather her in her arms, a rumble made her spin. Bella stood up, her arms stretched in front of herself. She was going to scream, but her voice caught in her throat.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Jake didn't go back to the bonfire after Bella left him. He didn't want to endure the harsh comments of his friends about his attachment to Bella. He could almost hear what Leah would say – he bet that her remarks would be the nastiest. Leah was going to leave as soon as Sam returned, determined not to spend another minute with her ex-boyfriend. Jake resolved to wait in the woods until then.

On his way back to the beach, he noticed that Bella seemed to have had the same idea he did. He spotted her in the distance, walking along the trail on the hill. She seemed lost in her thoughts, and for a moment he wondered what she was thinking. _It's better that I don't know_, he told himself, disgusted at the idea that the bloodsucker had invaded Bella's thoughts and taken up permanent residence there.

The rumble of a motorcycle startled him.

No headlight was on.

He saw the motorcycle coming down the trail at full speed, its track erratic, as if the driver was drunk or agitated.

He saw that Bella wasn't alone. _Claire...what's she doing up here?_

"BELLA!" Jake screamed, and ran toward her.

But he was too late.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>

* * *

><p>Cliffie anyone?<strong><br>**

The next chapter is due to be posted in two weeks. In the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts about this story!

**_Thank you!_ **to my wonderful friends **Camilla10**, **Miaokuancha**, **Marlena580**, and **Jmolly**.

I'm on Twitter (**RaumTweet**).

_A Good Liar_'s extras are posted on: **h.t.t.p : ****/ ****/ ****myreadinglounge. ****blogspot. ****com/**


	10. Nihil Interit

**Raum**

_**A Good Liar**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 10: "Nihil Interit"<strong>

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><p><em>I'd never given much thought to how I would die <em>

– _though I'd had reason enough in the last few months —_

_but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this. […] _

_Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. _

_That ought to count for something._

(_Twilight_, "Preface")

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><p>Vampires were supposed to be able to speak at unbelievable speed. It proved to be a lie when Alice began to tell Edward what she'd seen. The words rolled out bitterly and heavily from her mouth, seeming too slow, as she described a hospital corridor: the paramedics pushing Bella's stretcher as fast as they could, their voices frantic as they listed her vitals.<p>

Edward felt as if the world were collapsing on him while, through Alice's account, he imagined Bella covered in blood, her face a mask of pain, her voice an almost intelligible mumble.

"Save the child," Bella cried in the vision. "Claire!"

Alice shuddered as her foresight forced her to withstand her human sister's agony. She sobbed as she reported what else she had seen.

Bella's death.

There was only one way to make the vision remain an unrealized future.

"Run!" Alice begged. "Run, Edward! Save her!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Edward left tracks on the ground as he rushed over bushes, broken branches, and fallen logs. He didn't falter over the slippery rocks of a stream as he cut through it, but stomped his feet so hard, pushing against the current, that one rock cracked. He didn't even acknowledge the moment when he crossed the treaty line and dashed through the Quileute lands.

By the time he approached La Push, he was nothing but a numb clot of pain – a wounded creature, hunched over in his muddy clothes.

The smell of blood slapped him in the face.

Then he picked the only sound which could guide him – the only, tiny hope that he wouldn't be driven mad by his desperation.

Bella's heartbeat.

He leaped toward the hill, and four people entered his visual field.

Beside a shattered motorcycle, a boy lay down. He was dead, but the warmth hadn't left his body yet; the scent of his blood was mingled with the stench of alcohol. He wasn't wearing a helmet, and the signs on the ground showed how he had found his death. Chances were that, upon the impact, the boy had reflexively grabbed hard on the the handlebars, causing the bike to accelerate; his own jerking movements had veered the motorcycle in a way that had thrown him into a tree.

A few meters away from Bella, a small child was weeping, her knees scratched.

Facedown in the ground, with her arms stretched forward and her legs splayed at an odd angle, Bella was unconscious.

Edward's howl of pain stayed trapped in his throat. He took a breath, and when he spoke it was to address the only unwounded human on the scene.

Jacob Black.

Jake was running toward Bella and the child, but Edward was faster than him. When Jake saw the vampire descending on him, he rushed to gather the child in his arms.

"What happened?" Edward growled.

Shaking in his sobs, Jacob tried to choke out his answer, but Edward almost didn't listen to him, focusing on his thoughts to know what Bella had just suffered.

He saw how she had been impotent and frail in front of the drunken rider when his motorcycle had headed toward her and the child. Bella had only managed to push the toddler out of the motorcycle's way. Her desperate bolt had saved the little girl's life, but had cost Bella hers.

The cacophony of thoughts coming from the people who were at the bonfire increased as some of the guys headed toward the scene of the accident.

_Oh my god, a crash!_

_Claire! Where's Claire? Claire!_

_Over there, on the hill! _

Edward tugged at his hair, as if he could push away the frantic screams doubled by the people's minds. He crouched beside Bella, his movements heavy like lead as he tried to process what had occurred and what was he going to do.

A shiver ran down his back as he registered that Jacob was shaking. _Not now, _he silently pleaded. _If he phases now... _Edward didn't dare to imagine what he would have to do if Jake had turned into a wolf right then. He straightened himself and bored his eyes into him.

"Jacob," he called, struggling to overcome his own shock in order to calm him down. "I need to take Bella away." He had to force himself to say the next words aloud. "She's dying."

Jake flinched at his words, but didn't reply.

"I'm not taking her to a hospital. There's nothing that can be done," Edward went on, his own words tearing him apart.

Faster than the others, a couple of guys were already climbing up the hill. Edward didn't have but a few seconds left.

Claire sobbed in Jake's arms, burying her face in his t-shirt. "Mommy," she whined. The fragments of images Edward managed to see in her mind showed him how frightened and confused she was. Jake hugged her, and his thoughts matched Edward's: the child was so young that what she had just gone through would stay in her memory only as a blurred nightmare.

"I beg you," Edward told Jake. "Let me take Bella away. Tell everyone that the impact of the motorcycle pushed her into the sea. She saved the child's life. Please, Jacob. Do it for her."

Jake's eyes widened. Edward felt his stunned gaze on his back as he reached out to gather Bella in his arms. He turned toward him, waiting for his answer.

Tears were brimming in Jake's eyes. He had been sure that he would always protect Bella. Instead, she had been harmed by one of his tribe. Derek had a passion for motocross, and the other guys had already reprimanded him for recklessly riding drunk—and it happened often. Derek's family would be devastated now...just like Bella's. Jake pondered what Edward had asked him. The treaty, the border line – what sense did it make if respecting them would mean losing Bella anyway?

Edward scanned Jake's thoughts and tried to discover his intentions. _He loves her_, Edward acknowledged. But then he also saw how Jake wanted her to have her chance to be happy...even if she wouldn't be with him.

Jake replied to him with a curt nod. _Don't let her die_, he told him in his mind, accepting the inevitable.

Edward didn't breathe as he held Bella close to his chest. With every drop of her blood soaking his shirt and wetting his skin, he felt her life slipping away. Her faint heartbeat was all he focused on, and it was the only force that made him summon the strength to run back home.

He broke straight through the trees, before people could see him and Bella disappearing in the night. The treaty line came in sight soon. _Home_, he thought when he passed over that boundary. _We're not far, we're not far_.

"Edward," she mumbled.

"I love you," he whispered to her. He didn't know if and how long she would be able to hear him. If they were the only words he could tell her, he wanted her to know she was surrounded by his love.

"The child," she murmured. "Claire..."

"You saved her," he told her softly, suppressing a sob. "You saved her," he repeated as he saw her features slightly relax at his reassurance.

When he entered his family's house, he ran directly to his room and lowered Bella on the bed. The second her warmth left his skin, his knees threatened to buckle. His fingers trembled as he searched for her pulse.

He felt as if his head were caught in an iron vise when he checked her and compared what he was registering with what his medical studies had taught him. Not even Carlisle, with his centuries of experience as a doctor, could have done anything to save her at that point.

"Isabella," he tried to call.

Nothing.

"Bella," he tried again, his voice broken by a sob as he realized that his Bella, his human Bella, would never answer him again.

Since he had fallen in love with her, Edward had pushed away the thought that her human life was inevitably running toward its end.

_I'm dying anyway. Every minute, I get closer..._she had told him at the prom, when he had vowed that he wouldn't end her life and change her into a vampire. On that distant night her words had burned him, to the point that he'd had to stop her mid-sentence.

Even in the last few months, when he had resolved to leave up to her the final decision about her change and had accepted that he would someday have to turn her, Edward had been sure that they would have enough time to prepare themselves. He had imagined that Carlisle was going to be at his side, helping him to keep his control and, more than anything else, helping her to suffer as little as possible.

Kneeling beside her, watching her dying on the bed where they had made love, Edward felt utterly alone, more than he had ever been in over a century.

He rested his lips on her pulse and kissed her skin.

Then he bit.

With reverence, he swallowed the tiny amount of Bella's blood that trespassed on his lips. A part of her went inside him while his venom began to spread through her body.

Mere seconds passed before her gasp told him that the change had started.

"Come back to me," he pleaded.

x-x-x-x-x-x

_Edward_, Alice called to her brother through her thoughts. _May I come in?_

She stopped at the front door. With its soft light, dawn embraced the house that had been her home in Forks. Alice focused on the sounds she could pick out around her and let out a sigh of relief as she heard Bella's heartbeat.

"Yes." Edward's voice was filled with the pain that was crushing him.

Alice stepped in slowly, bracing herself for what she knew she would see. _She'll be fine_, she told herself, hoping that her thoughts could bring a small consolation to her brother, too. When she entered Edward's room, she shut her eyes out of instinct – she couldn't bear to see him so defeated, overwhelmed by Bella's agony, and her best friend tortured by the flames of the change. She sought comfort in her visions, clinging to the one where she had seen Bella as a vampire – glorious in her perfection – and Edward at her side, without any sign of sorrow marring his features.

"Let me take care of her," she told him gently.

Edward hesitated.

Alice leaned a hand on his shoulder. "It'll help her and you."

With the tenderness of a mother she tended to Bella. Where the venom had already completed healing Bella's wounds, she caressed her new skin and cleaned her of any trace of blood.

With her melodious voice, Alice tried to soothe her human friend. With her thoughts, she spoke to his brother and informed him that Carlisle and Esme were coming back from London on the first flight available. A new wave of pain crashed on Edward as he recalled the reason why his parents had gone there: Esme was remodeling their apartment in London, as a surprise for Bella for the year she was going to spend there studying. A year that wouldn't come.

Jasper, Emmett and Rose were around Forks, ready to help should have been any problem with the Quileute. Alice gave Edward a scanty report of what she and her siblings had been able to learn when they had arrived: people believed Bella had been thrown off the cliff on impact with the motorcycle. Charlie and all the people he had been able to summon were trying to find her body, searching in the places where currents sometimes washed up things lost at sea. Edward acknowledged her sister's words with a nod, relieved that Jacob had helped him.

Like grains of sand in a hourglass, the minutes passed and another day went by.

When Carlisle and Esme arrived, Bella's change was nearly completed.

"She's strong, son," Carlisle reassured Edward, never leaving his side in the final moments of her agony. "It will be all right."

Edward tightened his hold on Bella's hands. Minute by minute, he felt her skin becoming more similar to his, and he caressed her features with his gaze while they assumed the supernatural perfection of the vampiric nature.

When Bella's heart came to its last beat, he held his breath, drowning in the sudden silence as if he had gone underwater.

The first thing she looked upon as she left her human life behind and entered in her new existence was Edward's loving gaze. She had been separated from her family and friends, but when she met Edward's eyes, she was certain that, with him, she would never lose hope.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>

* * *

><p>Am I forgiven after the evil "cliffie on a cliff" of the previous chapter?<p>

"Nihil Interit" means "Nothing perishes" in Latin.

An Epilogue will be posted in a few days. And then...I've a new multichapter story ready for you. It will be short, and with vampires. If you put me on author alert, you'll get a message when the first chapter is posted.

**_Thank you!_ **to my wonderful friends **Camilla10**, **Miaokuancha**, **Marlena580**, and **Jmolly**.

I'm on Twitter (**RaumTweet**).

_A Good Liar_'s extras are posted on: **h.t.t.p : ****/ ****/ ****myreadinglounge. ****blogspot. ****com/**


	11. Epilogue

**Raum**

_**A Good Liar**_

Dear Readers, thank you once again for your support. Another story comes to an end, but a new one is beginning in a few weeks. The title will be _Carnelian and Ice_, and I'll share some little bits on _MyReadingLounge_ as a teaser. Stay tuned!_**_**  
><strong>_**_

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><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>

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><p>After a rainy day, pale sunrays lightened Mansfield Road in the late afternoon. The quiet avenues along the Thames seemed to come alive as flashes of blue appeared in the gray cover of the London sky.<p>

Sitting in her study, Bella looked down at her thesis' inscription. Edward entered the room; silently, he went beside her and circled her shoulders.

"Whenever you're ready, everyone is eager to begin," he told her quietly.

A soft smile appeared on her face. Alice had insisted on organizing a party to celebrate Bella's graduation, even if it was just a family gathering. As Edward saw the open book on Bella's desk, he wrapped her in an embrace.

He read her dedication:

_To my parents, who gave me life out of love._

_To my husband, whose love makes every day worthy and precious. _

"I wish Renée and Charlie could be here with us today," she murmured against his chest.

"I see, love. But even if they don't know what you've done, they know they're the parents of a wonderful woman."

Both their minds went back to the night that, six years before, had severed Bella's ties with her family and her human friends.

When she had awakened after her change, she had easily recalled the accident that claimed her life. With those images, the memory of what she had thought in that moment of choice had come back to her. In order to save Claire, Bella had been ready to face true death, not just the three days' fire which would grant her eternal life with her beloved. She was going to sacrifice not only her mortal life, but her immortal one with Edward as well. _Will he understand?_ she had asked herself in her agony.

But Edward wasn't the only one whose world had changed because of Bella's accident. When the time had come to tell her about the consequences it had brought, and that she was believed dead, for a moment the Cullens had been worried that she would lose her control. But Edward hadn't faltered. He had soothed her and prevented her from slipping in a dark hole of pain.

He had talked to her about Claire – the little girl who still had a life and would become a woman only thanks to Bella's sacrifice. He had reassured her about Charlie–reminding her how, as her parent and as a man whose life's work was to protect and serve, he would understand how she could have wanted to give her own life to save a child.

As time passed, the pain over the loss of their daughter didn't leave Charlie and Renée, but didn't prevent them from moving on with their lives. Just after her change, Edward had promised Bella that time would help them all. After six years, it hadn't proven to be a lie.

Bella recalled a Latin motto that had caught her attention during a lecture. _Omnia mutantur, nihil interit. _Everything changes, nothing perishes. Oddly enough, it was from a book called _Metamorphoses_.

The shy, lonely girl she had been had turned into a brave, passionate woman.

The daughter who hadn't experienced living in a close-knitted family was now part of a large, supportive family.

Through the books she had enjoyed, she had dreamed to find a love as pure and strong as the one her beloved characters enjoyed in their stories. That love wasn't an abstract idea or a dream for her anymore: it had been brought to life by Edward – her husband, her soulmate, the man she would spend forever with.

"I'm ready," she told him. Bella's topaz eyes shone as she smiled, and Edward thought he had never seen any jewel more beautiful and precious.

- The End -

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><p><strong><em>Thanks for reading!<em>**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Thank you!<em> and giant hugs **to my wonderful friends **Camilla10**, **Miaokuancha**, **Marlena580**, and **Jmolly**. They've been with me during the four seasons of this story: I began to write it in winter, completed it in spring, posted the last chapters over the summer and now, when fall is beginning, it's time to say goodbye.

See you on Twitter (**RaumTweet**).

_A Good Liar_'s extras are posted on: **h.t.t.p : ****/ ****/ ****myreadinglounge. ****blogspot. ****com/**


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